Two senior IS commanders killed in strike - US

  • 02/07/2016
Drone (AAP file)
Drone (AAP file)

A US-led coalition air strike killed Islamic State's deputy minister of war and a military commander in Mosul on June 25, the Pentagon says.

"Their deaths, along with strikes against other IS leaders in the past month, have critically degraded IS's leadership experience in Mosul and removed two of their most senior military members," Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said in a statement in Friday.

The strike near Mosul killed Basim Muhammad Ahmad Sultan al-Bajari, the deputy minister of war, who oversaw the militant group's capture of Mosul in 2014, Cook said.

The other Islamic State member killed in the strike was Hatim Talib al-Hamduni, a military commander in Mosul, Cook added.

In June, Iraq's military claimed victory in a US-backed offensive against Islamic State forces in Falluja and set its sights on an offensive against the jihadists who hold Mosul, Iraq's second largest city.

Reuters