Clarion ProjectA US airstrike has killed the top aide to the Islamic State’s “caliph,” Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the Iraqi Defense Ministry said today. The strike hit the city of Mosul, which the Islamic State has controlled since June. Another Islamic State figure was also killed in the strike.
The Arabic paper Al-Mayadeem reported the death at 11:35am local time. Abu Hajer el-Souri was described as “the right hand of al-Baghdadi.”
The U.S. began bombings in August to help Kurdish forces liberate the Yazidis escape from the Mount Sinjar, where they were trapped. The Yazidis, an ancient ethnic and religious minority, were under seige from the Islamic State who considered them “devil worshippers.” Following the beheadings of U.S. journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff, Obama is under intense pressure to widen operations against the Islamic State.
UK Prime Minister David Cameron said today the Britain may join airstrikes against the Islamic State. He told the BBC, “I certainly don’t rule anything out.”
http://www.clarionproject.org/news/right-hand-al-baghdadi-killed-us-airstrike-mosul
ISIS second in command is dead? Where can I send some flowers.