Airstrikes hit Islamic State leaders

U.S. warplanes attacked what appeared to have been a gathering of top Islamic State leaders in Iraq, destroying a convoy of 10 militant armed trucks, U.S. Central Command said Saturday.

The military could not confirm whether the Islamic State's top leader, Abu Bakr al-Bagdhadi, was killed in the strike Friday, said Col. Patrick Ryder, a spokesman for the command.

The airstrikes were conducted near Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city and a stronghold of the Islamic State since militants seized it in June.

If the strike did take out the militant group's top leadership it would be a significant success for the U.S.-led coalition, though insurgent groups have historically been able to regenerate leaders to replace those who have been killed or captured.

The coalition was not targeting al-Baghdadi or other leaders at the time of the airstrike, said a defense official who asked not to be named because he was not authorized to discuss details of the operation.

Instead, the airstrikes seized on a target of opportunity when they detected what appeared to be a gathering of top leadership, the official said.

The airstrikes come a day after the Pentagon announced that the White House authorized up to 1,500 additional troops to be sent to Iraq, doubling the size of the U.S. presence there.

The troops will work to expand the existing mission to advise Iraqi security forces and establish training facilities, said Rear Adm. John Kirby, the Pentagon press secretary. U.S. advisers will not accompany Iraqi units into the field, but will be at fixed training locations or top level headquarters.