DHAKA: Several key leaders of the Islamic State (IS) of Iraq and Syria, including its finance minister, were killed in an airstrike in Syria this week, according to US Secretary of Defense Ash Carter.

Carter told a press conference in Washington on Friday that US forces had killed Abd al-Rahman Mustafa al-Qaduli, also known as Haji Iman, which would mark a further erosion of the group’s leadership, Al Jazeera publishes this report on Saturday.

“We are systematically eliminating IS’s cabinet,” Carter told reporters, referring to the man as Haji Iman and saying he managed the group's finances.

“The removal of this IS leader will hamper the ability for them to conduct operations inside and outside of Iraq and Syria.”

Carter said Qaduli had been in the ranks of IS, also known as ISIS, since its earliest incarnation as al-Qaeda’s affiliate in Iraq.

BDST: 1448 HRS, MAR 26, 2016
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