Key Islamic State leader killed in Syria
The Islamic State announced on Tuesday that one of its longest-serving and most prominent leaders, responsible for attacks overseas, Abu Muhammad al-Adnani, had been killed in Aleppo province in Syria.
Adnani played an important role in Islamic State’s external operations, grooming Abdelhamid Abaaoud during his time fighting with the group in Syria before Abaaoud went on to become the ringleader of the terror attack in Paris that killed more than 100 people.
The Pentagon said it had targeted Adnani in a precision strike near the town of al Bab and was still assessing the results.
Adnani was considered by American defense officials as one of Islamic State’s most senior leaders, directly involved in both the recruitment of foreign fighters as well as the “chief of external operations,” according to a senior defense official.
Adnani was also known for lengthy speeches promoting Islamic State,conveying messages from leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Fighting has escalated in the city in recent weeks, with rebels breaking a siege by government forces and Syrian and Russian warplanes carrying out air strikes on rebel-held areas.
Adnani’s reported death comes at a time when IS is suffering military reverses in both Syria and Iraq.
One of the group’s founder members, he was born Taha Sobhi Falaha in the northern Syrian town of Banash in 1977 and had a US bounty of $5m (£3.82m) on his head.
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