(Photo: AP)

Baghdad: Ayad al-Jumaili, believed to be the deputy of Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, has been killed in an airstrike, Iraqi State TV said on Saturday, citing Iraqi military intelligence. Jumaili was killed along with other Isis commanders in an air raid conducted by the Iraqi air force in al-Qaim in western Anbar province, near the border with Syria, Brigadier General Yahya Rasool of Iraq's Joint Operation Command said, citing military intelligence. "The air force's planes executed with accuracy a strike on the headquarters of Daesh in al-Qaim ... resulting in the killing of Daesh's second-in-command ... Ayad al-Jumaili, alias Abu Yahya, the war minister," state TV said earlier, citing a statement from the directorate of military intelligence. More than 300 civilians have been killed in western Mosul since Iraqi forces and the US-led coalition began an offensive last month to push ISIL out of its last stronghold in Iraq, the UN said, adding that the toll could exceed 400 if new killings are verified.
An Iraqi airstrike near Al Qaim, Anbar province, Iraq, kills Ayad al-Jumaili, believed to be ISIL's second-in-command.