US Defense Secretary Ash Carter has confirmed the death of senior ISIS commander Haji Imam, finance minister, second-in-command and potential successor to leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. This is a setback for so called Islamic State/ISIS militants who have recently lost territories in Iraq and Syria which had been designated for a caliphate. It comes just three weeks after the killing of another top ISIS commander, Tarkhan Tayumurazovich Batirashvil, known as Omar al-Shishani or Omar the Chechen. NBC News reports: “Striking leadership is necessary, but it’s far from efficient,” Defense Secretary Ash Carter said at a news conference, adding that the U.S. is “systematically eliminating” ISIS’ cabinet. “Leaders can be replaced, however, these leaders have been around for a long time,” Carter said. “They are senior. They’re experienced. So eliminating them is an important objective and achieves an important result.” Haji Iman — whose real name is Abd al-Rahman Muhammad Mustafa al-Qaduli — was widely reported as a senior leader and second in command in the organization. Carter, however, declined to provide further details about the operations, and didn’t immediately confirm where and when exactly the efforts to kill Haji Iman took place. Haji Iman oversaw and steered ISIS’ funding through its [...]