Islamic State (Isis) deputy Ayad al-Jumaili, said to be second-in-command to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, was reportedly killed on Friday, (31 March), a spokesperson for Iraqi intelligence said on Saturday.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi told a television channel last month that Baghdadi has few trusted aides left with so many senior leaders killed in coalition airstrikes.
The worries about civilian casualties have grown as Iraqi forces push to take western Mosul from the Islamic State with the help of USA and allied air power, rockets and artillery.
More than 200,000 civilians have fled IS-held west Mosul since last month, while the fighting has taken a devastating toll among the hundreds of thousands more still trapped in the battleground.
The Iraqi operation to recapture Mosul, the key stronghold of the Islamic State terror group in the country, began in October 2016 and resulted in the liberation of Mosul's eastern part this January.
"We have to be able to positively identify the valid military target [and] positively identify the combatant", as well assess the potential collateral damage of a strike, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
A spokesman for the US-led coalition against ISIL could not immediately be reached for comment.
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The last official report about Baghdadi was from the Iraqi military on February 13.
The official tally of civilian deaths since this campaign started is far lower than what outside groups report for that period.
The tally, however, does not include civilian fatalities inflicted in March - which may potentially include large numbers of civilians killed in aerial attacks over several days in Mosul's al-Jadida area.
London-based NGO Airwars, which monitors civilian casualties of worldwide air strikes, said victims of coalition bombs in Iraq and Syria increased in March to a level comparable with "some of the worst periods of Russian activity in Syria".
Addressing Pentagon reporters by teleconference, Army Col. Joseph Scrocca said OIR commander Army Lt. Gen. Stephen Townsend directed that the investigation get underway rather than continue with the credibility assessments.
Two other Daesh members were also killed in the strike, the statement added. Military officials announced on Monday that the US would send more than 200 soldiers to assist in the fight.
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