The Islamic State said one of its longest-serving and most prominent leaders, Abu Muhammad al-Adnani, has been killed in Syria. It said a generation raised in IS-held territory would avenge al-Adnani’s death.
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USA officials have often criticized Russia’s use of non-precision weapons in Syria that have resulted in civilian casualties.
He would issue messages online lambasting jihadist rival al Qaeda and its leadership while imploring Islamic State supporters to take up arms and launch attacks in their home countries, from Australia to France.
His death is a major blow to the extremist group, which has been on the retreat in Syria and Iraq.
As the Islamic State’s spokesman, Adnani was its most visible member.
Kurds have carved out a semi-autonomous region in Syria’s north and northeast, with their People’s Protection Units (YPG) becoming a key partner of the US -led coalition fighting I.S. The YPG is also a key component of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which groups diverse factions battling the jihadists.
“We are still assessing the results of the strike, but Al-Adnani’s removal from the battlefield would mark another significant blow” to IS, Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said in a statement.
Al-Adnani was one of the USA top targets among ISIS’s leadership, overseeing the group’s elaborate propaganda operations and credited with masterminding its strategy of staging terror attacks overseas, including the November 13 Paris attacks and the airport attacks in Brussels and Istanbul.
The terrorist organisation said in a statement that it posted on its website that Abu Mohammad Al-Adnani Ashami was killed “while inspecting military operations in the city of Aleppo”.
“The Muslims are revived by the blood of those who you kill, and the fire of the jihad is ignited with it, and its flames intensify”, said the Nashir Foundation, a pro-Islamic State group, on its Telegram channel, according to the SITE Intelligence Group. Adnani was killed while in a Syrian town close to the Turkish border. It did not provide any further details on when or how he died.
Al-Adnani was one of the first foreign fighters to oppose U.S. Coalition Forces in Iraq after he crossed the border from his native Syria into Iraq in 2003.
He once taught theology and law in militant training camps, according to Brookings.
Adnani has often been the face of the Sunni militant group.
Adnani has largely been the voice of ISIS in the U.S.in recent years. “He’s the head of their propaganda”, he said.
The Islamic State propagandist was the number two figure in the radical Islamic organization after its leader Abu-Bakr al-Baghdadi and was known for his calls for terror attacks in western Europe and the USA, the ministry said.
A number of ISIS followers and members captured and questioned in the last two years, including French jihadists Faiz Bouchrane and Reda Hame, have attested to al-Adnani as head of the Amniyat.
There are conflicting reports as to where and how he died.
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The Islamic State group’s second in command, Syrian-born Abu Muhammad al-Adnani, was killed while monitoring military operations in the Syrian province of Aleppo, the group announced Tuesday.
