Senior ISIS leader killed in Mosul

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — The Iraqi Defense Ministry has claimed ISIS’ second in command has been killed in Tal Afar northwest of Mosul.

“Relying on the intelligence information, US-led coalition airstrikes have successfully killed the Islamic State’s second top leader, Abu Al-Afari, in the Ayazia district of Tal Afar, along with many other leaders of the group in the area,” the ministry said in a statement Wednesday.

According to the statement, Afari was ISIS’ second in command after the group’s leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, and was killed while meeting with several other leaders and militants in a mosque.

Afari, also known as Abu Saja, was originally from Mosul, studied physics and was previously assigned by Al-Qaeda chief Osama Bin Laden to replace Abu Omer Baghdadi as Al-Qaeda in Iraq’s leader prior to the group becoming ISIS.

Afari was one of four leaders the Islamic State had chosen to become the caliph after Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi's death. 

On April 24, a report by the UK's Guardian newspaper claimed Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi suffered a life-threatening injury during an air attack launched by the US-led coalition. The report alleged that Baghdadi had not yet "resumed day-to-day control of the organization."