| 1 | The White House has confirmed Islamic State second-in-command Hajji Mutazz has been killed in a US military air strike. |
| 2 | "Fadhil Ahmad al-Hayali, also known as Hajji Mutazz ... was killed in a US military air strike on August 18 while travelling in a vehicle near Mosul, Iraq, along with an ISIL media operative known as Abu Abdullah," White House spokesman Ned Price said in a statement. |
| 3 | "Al-Hayali's death will adversely impact ISIL's operations given that his influence spanned ISIL's finance, media, operations, and logistics," Mr Price said, using another name for the group. |
| 4 | The White House said the dead leader was a "primary coordinator" for moving weapons, explosives, vehicles, and people between Iraq and Syria. |
| 5 | He was in charge of operations in Iraq and helped plan the group's offensive in Mosul in June of last year. |
| 6 | The news comes as fragments from mortars fired by IS militants at Kurdish fighters in northern Iraq earlier this month tested positive in a US military field test for the chemical weapons agent sulfur mustard, a US general said on Friday. |
| 7 | The United States and its allies stage daily air strikes on Islamic State targets in the group's self-declared caliphate in Iraq and Syria. |
| 8 | A drone strike last month killed a senior Islamic State leader in its Syrian stronghold of Raqqa. |
| 9 | One counter-terrorism specialist cautioned that the impact of the killing on Islamic State could be short-lived. |
| 10 | "My experience in looking at the Islamic State suggests they have demonstrated an ability to move people up into positions" when high-ranking operatives are killed, said Seth Jones, a former Pentagon official. |
| 11 | Jones said how much territory Islamic State controls was more important in determining the group's power. |