ISIS’ spokesman confirmed Tuesday the killing of the militant organization’s second in command in a U.S. airstrike earlier this year.
“America is rejoicing over the killing of Abu Mutaz al-Qurashi and considers this a great victory,” Abu Mohammad al-Adnani said in an audio recording posted on jihadi websites. Adnani did not say, however, in what circumstances Qurashi died.
But the White House, in an announcement on Aug. 22, said that Qurashi, whose real name is Fadhil Ahmad al-Hayali, was killed on Aug. 18 in a U.S. airstrike near the northern Iraqi city of Mosul.
It said the strike targeted a vehicle and also killed an ISIS “media operative” known as Abu Abdullah.
The U.S. National Security Council said at the time that Hayali was ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s senior deputy.
A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Daily Star on October 14, 2015, on page 8.
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