Iraq says airstrike kills senior IS commander

The Iraqi Defense Ministry says a senior Islamic State commander has been killed in a US-led airstrike in country’s north. While the US-led coalition says it carried out a strike there in the last 24 hours, American officials could not be immediately reached about the statement by Iraq, which has made incorrect claims before.

The Defense Ministry statement says the strike killed Abu Alaa al-Afari and others in Tal Afar.

A Defense Ministry official told The Associated Press that the airstrike late Tuesday hit a mosque. He spoke on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to speak to journalists.

The US-led coalition said Wednesday it carried out a strike in the past day near Tal Afar, destroying a “militant fighting position and a heavy machine gun.”

— AP