Coalition forces launched airstrikes targeting Islamic State leaders near their northern Iraqi hub of Mosul, the US military said Saturday, without confirming whether the group's chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was killed.
The strikes, which destroyed a vehicle convoy of 10 IS armed trucks, took place late Friday. "This strike demonstrates the pressure we continue to place on the ISIL terrorist network and the group's increasingly limited freedom to maneuver, communicate and command," US Central Command said in a statement, using another acronym by which the group is known.