US kills Daesh second-in-command

WASHINGTON

Terrorist organization Daesh’s second-in-command was killed, the Pentagon confirmed Friday.

Abd al-Rahman Mustafa al-Qaduli, also known as Hajji Iman, was killed earlier this week, Defense Secretary Ash Carter said during a press conference.

"We are systematically eliminating ISIL's cabinet," Carter said. "This is the second senior ISIL leader we've successfully targeted this month." American media cited unnamed defense officials who said he was killed Tuesday, possibly in Syria.

Earlier this month a U.S. airstrike reportedly killed senior Daesh leader Omar al-Shishani, also known as Omar the Chechen, in the town of Shadadi in al-Hasakah province in northeastern Syria.

Al-Qaduli was Daesh’s “finance minister”, controlling all funding for the group’s operations, Carter said.

Reports of al-Qaduli’s death is not a first. The Iraqi Defense Ministry in July claimed a coalition airstrike had killed him in Tal Afar in northern Iraq. Al-Qaduli joined al-Qaeda in 2004 before becoming a member of Daesh in 2012 after being released from an Iraqi prison, according to the Justice Department. He was designated "a specially designated global terrorist" in 2014 by the U.S.

The State Department offered a $7 million reward for information on al-Qaduli last year -- the highest for a Daesh member after the group’s leader Abu Baker al-Baghdadi at $10 million.