Islamic State currency designer killed in anonymous attack west of Mosul

Tal Afar (IraqiNews.com) Islamic State’s currency designer was killed Sunday by unknown attackers west of Mosul as security forces chase the last few remaining militants in the region.

A local source told Alsumaria News that the militant carried the nationality of a “neighboring country”, and was killed in central Tal Afar, a major IS stronghold west of Mosul. He was on his way out of a home which he had seized, the source revealed.

The targeted member was one of a few foreign nationals which the Islamic State had tasked with designing the group’s golden currency as part of the so-called “treasury department”.

The assassinated member was a close aide to IS supreme leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, said the source.

Despite its shrinking domain under security operations, Islamic State ordered merchants to adopt its golden Dirham and Dinars starting 27th of the last month, setting their values at USD 1.80.

Iraqi government forces, backed by a U.S.-led coalition and paramilitary forces, are currently fighting IS members out of the last few meters in Mosul, their previously-proclaimed capital.

Islamic State have been holding Tal Afar since 2014, with the area becoming one of its most significant bastions in Nineveh province.

So far, offensives by the pro-government Popular Mobilization have isolated the town from the Syrian borders and from Mosul, and recaptured a main military base there. But news of internal divisions and mysterious assassinations of IS leaders in that town have been recurrent over the past months.