Aide to ISIS leader killed in U.S. airstrike

MOSUL, Iraq, Sept. 4 (UPI) -- Three senior Islamic State members were killed Thursday by a U.S. airstrike in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, a senior Iraqi security official said.

Among the dead was Abu Hajar al-Sufi, an aide to IS — also known as ISIS or ISIL — leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, an explosives operative and a military leader in nearby Tel Afar, the official told NBC News.

An official with Iraq's Defense Ministry confirmed the death of al-Sufi to Al Arabiya news agency.

Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity.

Pentagon spokesman Col. Steve Warren did not confirm the IS deaths and said IS leaders hadn't been targeted in the airstrikes.

If IS leaders were "inside troop formations they are likely to be killed," he added.