Coalition planes strike IS leaders near Mosul: US

WASHINGTON: 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.