ERBIL – The killing of the third ‘caliph’ of the Islamic State (IS) was announced over a month after it happened, in an area where few expected. He is the second top leader of the international terrorist organization to be killed this year.
The man appears to have been killed in a southern province known as the cradle of the 2011 uprising, by forces that had fought for years against the central government in Damascus before “reconciling” with it in exchange for being granted de facto control over their area. The forces may have been supported in this battle by Syrian government forces, according to some reports.
