Iraq's defence ministry has said that the second most senior member of Islamic State had been killed in a coalition air strike on a mosque where he was meeting with other militants in the north of the country.
“Based on accurate intelligence, an air strike by the coalition forces targeted the second in command of IS, Abu Alaa al-Afari,” the ministry said in a statement on its website.
Abu Alaa al-Afari, whose real name is Abdul Rahman Mustafa Mohammed, is from the town of Tel Afar in northwest Iraq, and is thought to be second-in-command of Islamic State after self-proclaimed caliph Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
‘Martyrs Mosque’
On its website, the defence ministry posted footage of the air strike on the “Martyrs Mosque” in the village of al-Iyadhiya near Tel Afar, where Afari was a teacher and well-known preacher, according to a local official.
There was no way to independently confirm the defence ministry statement, and the Iraqi government has previously announced the death of Islamic State militants only for them to resurface alive.
The Pentagon in Washington said it was aware of the reports but could not confirm them.
Reuters