Islamic State said on Tuesday one of its most prominent and longest-serving leaders was killed in what appeared to be an American air strike in Syria, depriving the militant group of the man in charge of directing attacks overseas. Al-Adnani’s death wasn’t immediately confirmed by the U.S., which often takes days or weeks to gather and evaluate evidence before making such a judgment.
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Amaq did not say how Adnani was “martyred”.
Al-Adnani, whose real name is Taha Sobhi Falaha, persistently called for attacks against the West.
One of the last survivors of the al Qaeda militants who originally formed Islamic State last decade in Iraq, including its self-appointed caliph Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, Adnani had risen to become one of its most influential leaders.
The Pentagon on Tuesday said it had targeted Adnani, who Islamic State has said was killed in Aleppo province.
Meanwhile in Washington, a U.S. defense official said, speaking on condition of anonymity: “Coalition forces conducted an air strike in Al-Bab, Syria, targeting a senior leader”. In a statement, the Defense Ministry said its intelligence had confirmed that a Russian airstrike in Aleppo province had killed 40 IS militants, including the group’s spokesman.
Adnani made such a request in September 2014, calling on supporters to use stones, knives or even vehicles in their attacks to kill French or United States citizens.
He added: “We are still assessing the results of the strike, but al-Adnani’s removal from the battlefield would mark another significant blow to Isil'”. ISIS has not revealed his cause of death and said it was “determined to seek revenge” for the killing.
Fighting has escalated around the city in recent weeks, with rebels breaking a siege by government forces and Syrian and Russian warplanes bombing rebel-held areas.
Mohamed al-Adnani was the group’s spokesman but was also considered the groups No.2 after Baghdadi. He is believed to have been targeted in an American air strike previous year but survived. The official stopped short of confirming Adnani’s death, however.
Adnani was also responsible for essentially rescinding the call for foreign recruits as the Islamic State began to lose territory in Syria and Iraq amid a barrage of USA and allied airstrikes.
If Adnani has been killed, it was not immediately clear what operational impact his death might have on the Islamic State.
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If he was killed in an airstrike it would indicate that he was killed either by the Russians or the US-led coalition as the FSA do not have jets. It described him as “the official spokesman for and a senior leader” of ISIS, a position he obtained after becoming one of the first foreign fighters to oppose US-led forces in Iraq. But the group continues to control two of Iraq and Syria’s largest cities and have vowed to resort to guerrilla attacks.
