ISIS second-in-command killed in U.S. drone strike

Fadhil Ahmad al-Hayali, the second-in-command of ISIS and the commander in charge of the ISIS military operations, was killed in a U.S. military drone strike, according to the White House announcement on Friday.

U.S. National Security Council spokesman Ned Price said in a statement that al-Hayali was blasted in an Aug. 18 air attack while he was traveling in a vehicle near Mosul, in northern Iraq. “Al-Hayali`s death will adversely impact ISIS`s operations given that his influence spanned ISIS’ finance, media, operations and logistics," Price said. Al-Hayali was travelling in a white SUV with Abu Abdullah, the IS media operative, and two escorts at 8:30 a.m. on Aug. 18 and killed in the drone strike. Abdullah was also killed.

Al-Hayali was the top deputy to ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. He was known as the commander of IS operations, especially in charge of moving large amounts of weapons, explosives, vehicles and militants between Iraq and Syria where the Islamic extremist group seized. He had previously served as a lieutenant colonel in Saddam Hussein`s Special Forces under the Hussein regime and was detained in custody at the U.S. forces’ Camp Bucca in Iraq in 2000s after being held captive during a fight against the U.S. forces. Afterwards, he became the second-in-command in charge of all military operations in Iraq. He had reportedly been involved in the military action to capture Mosul in June last year. When the Iraqi forces raided al-Baghdadi’s house to obtain documents about ISIS, his role as the second-in-command became known.

Prior to this White House announcement, the Iraqi Ministry of Defense said in May that Abu Ala Al-Afri, the deputy leader of ISIS, was killed in an U.S.-led airstrike in northern Iraq. He was reportedly a former physics teacher at a middle school. The U.S. government estimates that at least 10,000 ISIS militants were killed in the U.S.-led coalition raids which started last year.

aimhigh@donga.com