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Abu Omar al-Shishani, who the Pentagon described as Islamic State’s “minister of war”, was killed in combat in the Iraqi city of Shirqat, south of Mosul, a news agency that supports the militant group said on Wednesday.
The Pentagon said in March that Shishani, also known as Omar the Chechen, had likely been killed in a US air strike in Syria, but this was the first time the group appeared to confirm his death.
Iraqi forces have captured a key air base from the Islamic State group that can serve as a launch pad for retaking the jihadist-held city of Mosul, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has said.
The Qayyarah air base in the Tigris valley 60 kilometres south of Mosul would be “an important base for the liberation of Mosul,” Mr Abadi said in a statement.
At least six Yemeni troops and around 20 militant attackers have been killed in an assault on a military base near the international airport of Yemen’s southern city of Aden, security sources say.
The assault began on Wednesday when two suicide bombers blew up their cars, followed by armed militants storming the Solaban base.
Turkish warplanes conducted airstrikes against outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) targets in the Beytüşşebap district of the southeastern province of Şırnak late on July 5.
The jets hit PKK targets between 8:10 p.m. and 8:23 p.m. in the rural Beytüşşebap after evaluating received intelligence, according to the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK). Several shelters belonging to the PKK were destroyed in the airstrikes, the TSK statement added.
The Syrian military has unilaterally declared a 72-hour truce covering the whole country, state media report.
A statement by the general command said the “regime of calm” began at 01:00 on Wednesday (22:00 GMT on Tuesday) and would last until midnight on Friday.
