US military kills three senior Islamic State leaders in Syria strikes

US strikes knocked off the jihadist group's second-highest Syrian commander and a smuggler believed to have helped kidnap and behead Kurdish officials.
A member of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), made up of an alliance of Arab and Kurdish fighters, removes an Islamic State group flag in the town of Tabqa, about 55 kilometres (35 miles) west of Raqa city, on April 30, 2017, as they advance in their battle for the group's de facto capital.
A member of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), made up of an alliance of Arab and Kurdish fighters, removes an Islamic State group flag in the town of Tabqa, about 55 kilometres (35 miles) west of Raqa city, on April 30, 2017, as they advance in their battle for the group's de facto capital. - DELIL SOULEIMAN/AFP via Getty Images
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Jared Szuba
@JM_Szuba

American military forces in Syria killed three top Islamic State officials in two separate operations over the past 24 hours, US officials said.

The Islamic State’s deputy commander in Syria — one of the jihadist group's top-five ranking leaders whom US military officials named as Abu Hashum al-Umawi, aka Abu 'Ala — was killed in a drone strike in northern Syria around 6:23 p.m. local time on Thursday.

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