US airstrikes kills 3 Islamic State leaders
December 19, 2014  02:02
American airstrikes have killed two top-level and one mid-level ISIS leader, a senior US military official told CNN.

Haji Mutazz was Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi's deputy in Iraq; Abd al Basit was his military emir in Iraq; and Radwan Talib was his Mosul emir. 

Their deaths resulted from multiple strikes going back to mid-November -- it has taken until now to determine conclusively they were killed.

"I can confirm that since mid-November, targeted coalition airstrikes successfully killed multiple senior and mid-level leaders within the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant," said Pentagon press secretary Rear Adm. John Kirby, in a statement on Thursday.

"We believe that the loss of these key leaders degrades ISIL's ability to command and control current operations against Iraqi Security Forces, including Kurdish and other local forces in Iraq," he said.
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