IS 'war minister' killed in coalition airstrikes in Iraq

US-led airstrikes on Islamic state group positions have killed several of its leaders, including the "war minister," and destroyed a military camp used by the militants.

The top IS commander, Thamer al-Mahlawi, was killed in an airstrike on [the group's] convoy on Tuesday south of the town of Haditha in western Anbar," a local security source from the province told The New Arab.

"The airstrike destroyed most of the convoy's vehicles and many of the organisation's leaders were killed, including the IS war minister," he added.

Al-Mahlawi had been leading the operations in Haditha where the militant group has recently stepped up its attacks, killing at least 45 Iraqi security forces and Sunni tribal fighters over the past three days.

Khalid Salman, a provincial councilman from Haditha, said on Wednesday that another 30 pro-government fighters have been wounded. Shaalan al-Nimrawi, a local tribal sheikh, confirms the casualty figures.

	Haditha dam in the Euphrates River - Anbar province, Iraq [AFP]

IS militants have been using car bombs in Haditha. IS has been trying to take control of a vital hydro-electric dam there, which provides a large part of the country with power.

Mosul

The US-led coalition has intensified its airstrikes on IS positions in Anbar province and around the northern city of Mosul in Nineveh province.

Coalition airstrikes targeted al-Kasak military camp near Mosul with 19 missiles, destroying the site and killing 38 IS members including senior figures in the group, a local source told The New Arab.

Fire bellowed from the camp destroying most of its structures and dozens of vehicles inside, he added.

Coalition airstrikes also targeted IS in the towns of Bashiqa and al-Fadiliya north of Mosul, killing several IS militants including the IS-appointed "governor" of Bashiqa Omar Jiyad and six other senior members of the group.

Iraqi forces backed by US-led airstrikes pushed the extremists out of the capital of Anbar, Ramadi late in December.

Coalition spokesman Col. Steve Warren said on Tuesday that IS has lost nearly a third of the territory it once controlled in Iraq and Syria.