Islamist group's deputy leader killed in air strike

Abdul Rahman Mustafa Mohammed, the second-in-command of the Islamic State (IS) has been killed in a US-led coalition air strike in northern Iraq.

According to a report from the Iraqi ministry of defence spokesman,  Brig-Gen Tahsin Ibrahim, Mohammed, also known as Abu Alaa al-Afri, was inside a mosque in Tal Afar that was targeted by the strike.

BBC reports that in recent weeks, there were unconfirmed reports that Afri had taken temporary charge of IS operations after Iraqi security sources claimed that ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi had been incapacitated as a result of a coalition air strike in northern Iraq in March.

The United States has been assisting Iraq in fighting the Islamist terrorist group, leading a coalition in conducting air strikes in Northern Iraq.

Also last week, the US had offered a a reward of up to $7m (about N1.3 billion) for information on the now deceased Afri, whom it identified as Abdul Rahman Mustafa al-Qaduli.