Ayad al-Jumaili, the man believed to be the deputy of Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, has been killed in an air strike, Iraqi State TV said on Saturday, citing Iraq’s military intelligence. Jumaili was killed with other Islamic State commanders in a strike carried out by the Iraqi air force in the region of al-Qaim, near the border with Syria, a military intelligence spokesman told Reuters. Iraqi forces, backed by a US-led coalition, have been battling since October to retake the city of Mosul, Islamic State’s last major stronghold in Iraq and the city where Baghdadi declared a caliphate nearly three years ago. Nearly 290,000 people have fled the city to escape the fighting, according to the United Nations.
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