Islamic State says one of its longest-serving and most prominent leaders, Abu Muhammad al-Adnani, has been killed in Syria.
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Al-Adnani, whose real name is Taha Sobhi Falaha, persistently called for attacks against the West, which paid off in bloody notoriety with the November 13 coordinated attacks in Paris that hit a concert hall, a stadium and restaurants and bars, leaving 130 people dead and hundreds wounded. Al-Adnani has been in sights of US military and counterterrorism forces for more than two years, and the State Department put a $5 million bounty on him. Turkish air forces have been operating in the area, and the United States has been providing intelligence on targets to Turkey under a program called “Nomad Shadow”, the military intelligence official said.
Adnani, who had a US$5 million United States bounty on his head, was originally from the western Syrian province of Idlib and joined the militant movement in Iraq, where he served under late Al-Qaeda leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
Advances by Iraq’s army and allied militia towards Islamic State group’s most important possession of Mosul have put the group under new pressure at a moment when a USA -backed coalition has cut its Syrian holdings off from the Turkish border.
Recent advances by the USA -backed Syrian Democratic Forces, an alliance of Kurdish and Arab militias, and by Syrian rebels backed by Turkey, have made inroads into Islamic State holdings in Aleppo province, cutting them off from the Turkish border and supply lines along it.
“Al-Adnani has served as principal architect of ISIL’s external operations and as ISIL’s chief spokesman”.
Few people expect further advances against Islamic State to be rapid or straightforward, but the group’s enemies have built a clear momentum in both Iraq and Syria that has pushed it to adopt a strategy of attacks overseas. A biography posted on militant websites says he grew up with a “love of mosques” and was a prolific reader.
His death will be a major blow to IS, which has suffered a series of setbacks this year including territorial losses in Syria and Iraq and the killings of other top figures. Adnani had joined the group under its founder Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
He was arrested in May 2005 in Al-Anbar province and is believed to have spent some time between 2005 and 2010 at the USA detention facility, Camp Bucca.
“We are still assessing the results of the strike, but al Adnani’s removal from the battlefield would mark another significant blow to ISIL”, said Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook, using another name for the extremist group. As such, the external operations unit reported up to al-Adnani.
Is besieged Aleppo facing last gasp? It said a generation raised in Islamic State-held territory will take revenge.
IS has released several audio files online in which Adnani, a senior leader in the group, delivers fiery sermons urging followers to carry out attacks.
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The State Department previously offered a $5 million reward for information on al-Adnani.
