F-16 fighter jets destroyed three houses on Friday which were connected by a trench in the town of Hajin, where the leaders were meeting.
Those killed included high profile targets such as the terror group’s “deputy war minister”, one of its “media emirs”, its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s personal courier and its chief of police, the military said in a statement, Reuters reported.
The terrorist group, which once occupied a third of Iraq’s territory, has been largely defeated in the country but still poses a threat along the border with Syria.
“Iraqi F-16 jets carried out a successful air strike that targeted a meeting of Daesh leaders ... in the Hajin area within Syrian territory. The operation resulted in the complete destruction of the targets, and the killing of around 45 terrorists,” the military’s Joint Operations Command said.
The Iraqi military has carried out several air strikes against Daesh in Syria since last year, with the approval of the Syrian government of President Bashar al-Assad.