The White House has confirmed a U.S. airstrike has killed the deputy leader of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. Hazar Rashd Hameed/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
The second-in-command of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) militant group was killed Tuesday by a U.S. airstrike, the White House confirmed Friday.
"Fadhil Ahmad al-Hayali, also known as Hajji Mutazz ... was killed in a U.S. military airstrike on Aug.18 while travelling in a vehicle near Mosul, Iraq, along with an [ISIS] media operative known as Abu Abdullah," White House spokesman Ned Price said in a statement.
Al-Hayali's was directly involved in the jihadist group's "finance, media, operations and logistics," Price said.
According to Rudaw, a Kurdish news agency, Mutazz was an ethnic Turk born in Tal Afar, northern Iraq. He was an army commander under late Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein and joined the anti-U.S. insurgency after the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq.
After being charged with terrorism, Mutazz spent time in Camp Bucca, the notorious U.S. prison in Iraq, Rudaw reported. He changed his name and joined ISIS after being released.
He served as the top deputy under ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, and reportedly played a major role in military and logistical strategies during the continuing conflict in Iraq and Syria.
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