Russia’s claim that it killed the Islamic State spokesman and top strategist al-Adnani is a “joke”, and the strike was conducted by a U.S. Predator drone, American officials said Wednesday. “On August 30, 2016, Russia’s Su- 34 bomber destroyed in an airstrike in the area of Ma’arat Umm Hawsh a large group of IS militants comprising up to 40 people”.
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Al-Adnani is the second high-ranking Islamic State official to be killed in recent months after Tarkhan Tayumurazovich Batirashvili, also known as Abu Umar al-Shishani, was killed by a USA airstrike in March.
Hours after the announcement, there was no official confirmation of Adnani’s death, though the Pentagon said he had been the target of United States air strikes on Tuesday in the al-Bab region of northern Syria.
Adnani was Daesh´s propaganda chief, top recruiter and the reported mastermind of a string of Daesh-claimed attacks in the West.
Some analysts believe Adnani was being prepared to be a potential successor to Baghdadi if the Islamic State leader were to be killed.
Adnani, a Syrian born in 1977, was one of ISIS’ most recognised leaders. He’s been responsible for attacks abroad-Al-Adnani was probably the commander behind the terror attacks in Paris in 2015, and has been encouraging lone wolf attacks on civilians. We conducted a strike that targeted al-Adnani.
Al-Adnani’s death has not yet been confirmed, but would be a major blow to the terrorist organization.
A US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces – a mix of Kurdish and Arab militias – has also made inroads into IS strongholds the province, cutting them off from the Turkish border and supply lines along it.
Russia’s claim that it carried out the airstrike in Syria that killed Islamic State’s spokesman and chief strategist is “garbage”, a US official tells VOA.
“Now, with regard to the Russians, we have no information to support Russia’s claim that they also carried out a strike against Adnani”. “We don’t have any information to support what the Russians put forward”, Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook said. The U.S. has limited its involvement to attacking Islamic State group positions.
The death of Abu Muhammad al-Adnani, 39, would mark the highest profile killing of an ISIS member yet. “And at the same time, we have not seen the Russian military campaign use precision weaponry on a regular basis as well”.
He was a founding member of ISIL, which evolved from Al Qaeda in Iraq to become the pre-eminent global extremist movement.
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In June 2014, he formally declared the establishment of the IS caliphate stretching across parts of Syria and Iraq under the leadership of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
