ISIS second-in-command with a $7million bounty on his head is killed in bombing raid as terror group in retreat across Iraq and Syria
- Abdul Rahman Mustafa al-Qaduli was killed in a bombing raid in Syria
- The ISIS terrorist had previously been a senior member of Al Qaeda in Iraq
- Al-Qaduli switched allegiances after he was released from jail in early 2012
- He was branded a 'Specially Designated Global Terrorist' in May 2014
ISIS second-in-command Abdul Rahman Mustafa al-Qaduli has been killed in bombing raid in Syria, it has been reported.
Al-Qaduli, who was the ISIS finance minister had a $7million bounty on his head was killed earlier this month.
US
Defence Secretary Ash Carter confirmed Al-Qaduil's death but refused to
go into detail about the mission. He said the death of Al-Qaduli would
make it more difficult for ISIS to operate and for the terror
organisation to pay their fighters.
US Defense Secretary Ash Carter, right, will confirm the death of Abdul Rahman Mustafa al-Qaduli, left
The terrorist joined Al Qaeda in 2004 but transferred his allegiance to ISIS following his release from prison in early 2012.
The US Department of Treasury branded al-Qaduli as a 'Specially Designated Global Terrorist' on May 14, 2014.
Carter said US forces are 'systematically eliminating ISIL's cabinet. We killed several key ISIL terrorists this week'.
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He said: 'They will be replaced but we will continue to go after their leadership.'
Carter described al-Qaduli as a 'well known terrorist' who was their minister for finance.
He confirmed US forces killed Haji Iman, one of the many aliases used by al-Qaduli.
Carter
refused to confirm whether the terrorist was killed in a drone strike
or a manned aircraft. He said providing additional details would reduce
the effectiveness of future operations.
He said they have taken out the terror organisation's finance chief, affecting their ability to pay their fighters.
He will provide details on the mission along with General Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff..
The
U.S. military has killed numerous ISIS leaders in recent months.
Earlier this month the Pentagon said it killed Omar al-Shishani,
described as the Islamic State's 'minister of war', in an airstrike in
Syria.
General Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff gave details of the operations against ISIS
In November, the Pentagon said an airstrike in Libya killed Abu Nabil, another top ISIS leader.
The
Iraqi army said Thursday its troops and allied militia had launched
what is expected to be a long and difficult offensive to retake the
second city of Mosul, ISIS's main hub in Iraq.
The
army and the Popular Mobilisation paramilitary force 'have begun the
first phase of conquest operations' in the northern Nineveh province, of
which Mosul is the capital, Iraq's joint operations command said in a
statement.
It
said four villages had been taken between the town of Qayyarah, which
is still held by IS, and Makhmur, where US-backed Iraqi forces have been
massing in recent weeks.
The
army did not say how long this phase of the operation was expected to
take and Iraqi forces still look far from being in a position to take
the city itself.
The
joint operations command is coordinating the battle by Iraqi security
forces to retake the large parts of the country seized by ISIS during a
lightning offensive in 2014.
It
includes representatives from the US-led coalition that has provided
air support, training and military advisers for the Iraqi army in its
fightback.
Iraqi forces have scored important recent gains against ISIS, including by last month retaking Anbar provincial capital Ramadi.
The
latest announcement comes as pro-government forces in Syria closed in
on ISIS in the ancient city of Palmyra, which the jihadists seized
around the same time as Ramadi last year.
But Mosul - which along with Raqa in Syria is one of the jihadists' two main hubs - would be a major prize.
Experts
have warned that any battle to retake the city will be difficult, given
the significant number of jihadists and civilians in the city and the
time ISIS has had to prepare defences.
Lieutenant
General Sean MacFarland, the commander of the US-led operation against
ISIS, has said that Iraqi generals do not think they will be able to
recapture Mosul until the end of 2016 or early 2017 at the earliest.
As
they have done in battles to retake cities like Ramadi and Tikrit,
Iraqi forces are expected to work slowly and deliberately to cut off
supply lines to Mosul before launching an assault on the city.
The
International Committee of the Red Cross said it distributed aid on
Thursday to more than 12,000 displaced people in west Ramadi who fled
fighting in the nearby city of Hit.
Thousands
of troops were deployed in February to a base in Makhmur, some 45 miles
southeast of Mosul, in preparation for the offensive.
The US-led coalition said it carried out three strikes in the Qayyarah area on Wednesday.
'Near
Qayyarah, three strikes struck an ISIS communication facility and
destroyed an ISIS-used bridge section and denied ISIS access to
terrain,' it said in a statement.
It also launched eight strikes in the broader Mosul region.
Peshmerga
fighters of Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region have also been heavily
involved in the campaign against ISIS in northern Iraq.
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