Defense Secretary announces killing of ISIS 2nd in Command
(FOX NEWS) - A U.S. special operations team killed the Islamic State's second-in-command in a pre-dawn raid early Thursday morning inside Syria, senior defense officials said Friday -- as Defense Secretary Ash Carter announced the U.S. has taken out several senior leaders in recent days.
Abd al-Rahman Mustafa al-Qaduli, also known as Abu Ala al-Afri, had a $7 million bounty on his head by the U.S. government.
Carter, speaking alongside Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford, Jr., confirmed the death at a press conference Friday without going into details of the operation. The target also served as the ISIS finance minister.
Carter said the terror group's paymaster was also killed. This is in addition to the group's "minister of war" Omar al-Shishani, or "Omar the Chechen," killed in a recent U.S. airstrike.
Fox News' Lucas Tomlinson contributed to this report.