Islamic State leader killed in Iraq's Anbar province

Image from an Islamic State group affiliated Twitter account, taken Sept. 20, 2014, purports to show senior military commander Abu Wahib handing a flower to a child (Twitter / AP)

WASHINGTON -- The Pentagon says a top Islamic State leader in Iraq's Anbar province has been killed by a coalition airstrike.

Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook says Abu Wahib and three others were killed when their vehicle was struck on May 6 in Rutba. He says Wahib's death is a blow to the group's leadership.

A senior U.S. official said it was an American airstrike. The official was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly, so spoke on condition of anonymity.

Cook says Wahib was a former member of al Qaeda in Iraq and has appeared in Islamic State execution videos. There have been unconfirmed reports in the past suggesting Wahib was targeted by strikes, but this is the first time the Pentagon has said he was killed.