United States officials have confirmed that the finance chief of the Islamic State has been killed in air strikes that were led by the United States. The attacks took place in Iraq in recent weeks. Additionally two other senior ISIS leaders were also killed in the process.
United States military spokesperson Colonel Steve Warren confirmed that ISIS financial chief Abu Salah had been killed in the attacks. The United States has been conducting air strikes against ISIS forces in Iraq and Syria for more than a year.
According to Colonel Warren, Abu Salah was one of the most senior and highly experienced members of the terrorist organization’s financial network.
The campaign that led to the death of Abu Salah was part of an effort by the United States to destroy the financial infrastructure of ISIS.
The other ISIS leaders who were killed included the senior leader of extortion Aby Maryam and information transfer expert Abu Rahman al-Tunisi.
The three leaders were killed within the vicinity of Tal Afar, Iraq. There was no opportunity to capture the leaders without killing them.
Since the middle of last month, the United States has destroyed at least 116 trucks that ISIS used to smuggle crude oil into Syria. This campaign is part of an effort to disrupt the terrorist network from generating revenue through the sale of oil.
It has been reported that ISIS obtained as much as $40 million every month by producing and exporting oil. Because of the air strikes led by the United States, the oil revenue for ISIS has since been cut by 40%.
Originally, the United States was hesitant to conduct the air strikes on the trucks because of the possibility of civilian casualties. In order to prevent this, F-15 fighter jets dropped notices that warned the truck drivers to abandon their vehicles.
So far, there have been no reports of any civilian casualties. In total, it is believed that ISIS used more than 1,000 trucks to transport the oil.
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