Airstrike kills 'senior Daesh leader' in Mosul city

By Ahmed Kasim

MOSUL, Iraq (AA) – An alleged senior commander of the Daesh terrorist group has been killed by an airstrike in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, an Iraqi military official told Anadolu Agency Sunday.

According to Col. Ahmad al- Jubouri from the Mosul Operations Command, the Daesh terrorist, Abu Hamza al-Muhajir, was known as the third most important leader of the group, and was killed in Mosul's southern town of Hammam al-Alil.

Last month, the Iraqi army -- backed by U.S.-led coalition airstrikes -- launched a wide-ranging operation aimed at retaking Mosul, the last Daesh bastion in northern Iraq, from the terrorist group.

In mid-2014, Daesh captured Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city, before overrunning vast swathes of territory in the country’s north and west.

Recent months have seen the Iraqi army, backed by local allies on the ground and the U.S.-led air coalition, retake much territory.

According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), more than 22,000 people have been displaced since the beginning of the anti-Daesh operations.