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US 'Systematically Eliminating' ISIS Leaders, Another Reported Dead

The U.S. said Friday it killed one of ISIS' top officials, Abd al-Rahman Mustafa al-Qaduli. False reports of his death surfaced months ago.

US 'Systematically Eliminating' ISIS Leaders, Another Reported Dead
Getty Images / Win McNamee
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"We are systematically eliminating ISIL's cabinet," U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter said during a Pentagon press briefing.

The U.S. says it has killed Abd al-Rahman Mustafa al-Qaduli, a senior religious leader and a man some consider ISIS' second in command.

Al-Qaduli was originally part of Al-Qaeda and deputy to the leader of Al-Qaeda in Iraq Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Zarqawi was killed in a U.S. airstrike in 2006.

Defense Secretary Ash Carter also reaffirmed the death of Tarkhan Batirashvili, also known as Abu Omar al-Shishani.

Al-Shishani served as ISIS' minister of war and was injured in a U.S. coalition airstrike earlier in March. Reports emerged  he had died a week after that attack.

These announcements are best taken with a few grains of salt — it's been falsely reported they were killed in the past.

For Al-Qaduli, that happened last May. The Iraqi military made the claim, and the U.S. never confirmed it.

As for al-Shishani — reports of his death have been coming out since at least 2014.

This video includes clips from the U.S. Department of Defense and Arirang and an image from the U.S. Department of State.