The Obama administration says the No. 2 leader of the Islamic State militant group was killed in a U.S. military air strike in Iraq earlier this week.
National Security Council spokesman Ned Price said that Fadhil Ahmad al-Hayali was traveling in a vehicle near the northern Iraqi city of Mosul when he was killed on August 18.
As the senior deputy to Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, Hayali was the primary coordinator for moving large amounts of weapons, explosives, vehicles and people between Iraq and Syria.
In comments on August 21, Price characterized Hayali's death as a blow to Islamic State operations because his influence spanned finance, media, operations and logistics for the group.
Also killed in the air strike was an Islamic State media operative known as Abu Abdullah.
