Hajji Mutazz, ISIS’ No. 2 Killed in Airstrike on Aug 18
Islamic State (ISIS) in Iraq releases snuff film showing slaughter of hundreds of Iraqi men and boys gunned down like animals in ditches. (Photo: Walid Shoebat)
Hajji Mutazz, the second in command in the Islamic State terror organization, was killed in a U.S. airstrike in Iraq, the White House confirmed Friday. Mutazz,also known as Fadhil Ahmad al-Hayali, was killed on Aug. 18 while traveling in a vehicle near Mosul, Iraq along with an ISIS media operative known as Abu Abdullah.
“Al-Hayali’s death will adversely impact ISIL’s operations given that his influence spanned ISIL’s finance, media, operations, and logistics,” the White House statement said. “The United States and its coalition partners are determined to degrade and destroy this terrorist group which has wrought so much harm and suffering on the people of the region and beyond.”
Mutazz was senior deputy to ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, and a primary coordinator for moving weapons, vehicles and explosives between Iraq and Syria. Mutazz also played a pivotal role in numerous military operations, including the ISIS offensive in Mosul in June 2014.
