Iraqi forces kill al-Qaida-linked leader

An Iraqi official says Iraqi security forces have killed the top military leader of the Islamic State of Iraq, an al-Qaida linked group responsible for bombings and suicide attacks across Iraq.

Maj. Gen. Qassim al-Moussawi told The Associated Press on Friday that authorities killed al-Nasser Lideen Allah Abu Suleiman during an operation on Thursday.

He was the group's war minister. The ISI is an umbrella group that includes al-Qaida in Iraq.

Suleiman replaced the Egyptian Abu Ayyub al-Masri who was killed in a U.S.-Iraqi military strike on a safe house in April.

The ISI has been seriously debilitated since the height of the Iraq war, although the group is still able to carry out deadly attacks.