BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The Islamic State militant in charge of the group's oil operations in Iraq and Syria was killed on Thursday in a joint operation between the Iraqi Kurdish and U.S. Special forces, the Kurdistan Region Security Council said in a statement.
Sami Jassim al-Jabouri, also known as Haji Hamad, and his aide were killed ''in the vicinity of Qaim,'' an Iraqi town near the Syrian border, the statement said.
A spokesman of the U.S.-led coalition in Baghdad did not reply to an email requesting comment.
Kurdish peshmerga fighters are actively engaged in the fight against Islamic State, the ultra-hardline Sunni militants who proclaimed a "caliphate'' over parts of Iraq and Syria.
The Kurdish self-rule region in northern Iraq also hosts a base used by troops from the U.S.-led coalition assisting Iraqi forces in the war on the militants.
(Reporting by Maher Chmaytelli; editing by Ralph Boulton)
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