Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told Pentagon reporters that recommendations on ways to increase USA support for Iraq’s ground fight against IS will be discussed with President Barack Obama soon.
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Abd al-Rahman Mustafa al-Qaduli, also known as Haji Imam, believed to be the second highest ranking commander of the Islamic State in Syria, has been killed in a USA raid. “But the only thing I will say it is consistent with our strategy there which is to put pressure on Isil every single way we can, from the leadership right down to supporting local forces on the ground”.
Carter would not provide details about the strikes, but a senior US official said the group’s financial minister was killed along with two associates in a USA raid in Syria. He joined the Iraqi insurgency after the U.S. invasion in 2003 and was a “well-known terrorist in ISIL’s ranks dating back to its earliest iteration as Al Qaeda in Iraq, when he worked under Zarqawi [then the leader of AQI] as his liaison for operations with Pakistan”, Carter said. “The removal of this ISIL leader with hamper the organization’s ability for them to conduct operations both inside and outside of Iraq and Syria”.
Mr Carter was asked whether Al-Qaduli could have had a link to the November terror attacks in Paris or to this week’s bombings in Belgium and said he could not confirm a specific link to the Brussels attacks.
In a separate operation, a US airstrike in Mosul killed another top IS leader, the official said. He was held in US custody at the Camp Bucca military prison in Iraq in 2006, along with many other prisoners who went on to senior positions in Islamic State. The Marines are providing fire support to Iraqi forces isolating ISIL forces in Mosul, Dunford said. The Iraqi military said they killed the ISIS leader last May, though the Pentagon didn’t back up the claim. He was released in 2012.
It was not clear whether the operation involved members of the US military’s special operations task force that has been based in Iraq since early this year.
He said fighters from more than 100 countries were now in Syria and Iraq and there were estimates the total exceeded 30,000.
Defense Department officials cite Mr. Qaduli’s death, combined with the destruction of bomb-making facilities in Iraq, as evidence that the U.S.-led coalition is making progress in degrading Islamic State.
“When Daesh was strong, they were able to replace leaders they lost immediately, but I don’t think they can do the same now”, said Muhammed Ibrahim, head of the security committee in Nineveh’s provincial council. “There’s a lot of reasons for us to be optimistic about the next several months”, he said.
“In both Syria and Iraq we’re seeing important steps to shape what will become crucial battles in the months to come”, Carter said.
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Meanwhile, Syrian government forces have reportedly seized Palmyra’s old citadel from Islamic State.
