The Pentagon confirmed that a us air strike killed Islamic State spokesman Abu Mohamed al-Adnani in Syria last month.
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“The strike near Al Bab, Syria, removes from the battlefield ISIL’s chief propagandist, recruiter and architect of external terrorist operations”.
But the Defense Department said at the time that it hadn’t been able to nail that down.
Soon after the strike against Adnani, Russia said it was responsible for his death, a claim Pentagon officials dismissed as a “joke”.
The Pentagon had confirmed it conducted a strike against Adnani, after ISIS announced his death via its news service.
Al-Adnani was one of the group’s most powerful figures.
Cook said that United States “will continue to target IS leaders, relentlessly pursue its external plotters, and, working with partners on the ground”.
Russia’s claim came after the USA admitted targeting Adnani but stopped short of confirming his death.
Russian Federation had previously said Adnani was one of up to 40 militants killed in a Su-34 bomber raid on the village of Umm Hawsh, north of Aleppo – a claim Pentagon officials dismissed as a “joke”.
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Al-Adnani was known primarily as the chief spokesman for ISIS, but he was also the driving force behind high-profile ISIS terror attacks like last November’s deadly attack in Paris and the bombing at the airport in Brussels.
