IS rocket expert 'killed in drone strike' in Iraq

An Islamic State member linked to a deadly attack on US troops in northern Iraq has been killed in a drone strike, a spokesman of the anti-IS coalition said in Baghdad on Sunday.

"He was a rocket expert, he was controlling these attacks," US Army Colonel Steve Warren, told reporters, in reference to Jasim Khadijah, who is believed to be responsible for last month’s attack, in which a US Marine was killed and several others were wounded.

It was the second death of a US service member in combat since the United States first struck the militant group in 2014.

Another 29 militants were killed in airstrikes targeting IS strongholds in the western province of Anbar, the Iraqi Joint Operations Command announced on Sunday.

The operation was based on accurate intelligence information, the Command said in a statement, vowing harsher strikes in the coming days.

Meanwhile in Mosul, a military source told The New Arab that the leader of the IS missile brigade was killed in shelling in the southern town of Makhmour.