Al-Adnani’s death was confirmed by several intelligence channels.
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The militant was described as the second most senior IS leader after Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
Soon after ISIS announced the death of Adnani in Aleppo, both Russian Federation and USA announced that their air forces killed him.
Al-Adnani, whose real name is Taha Sobhi Falaha, persistently called for attacks against the West.
The IS-affiliated Amaq news agency announced propaganda chief Adnani’s death late on Tuesday, saying he “was martyred while surveying operations to repel the military campaigns against Aleppo” in northern Syria. It didn’t provide details. Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook said on Tuesday the US was “still assessing the results of the strike”.
“According to reports confirmed by several intelligence channels, field commander Abu Mukhammad al-Adnani, better known as “the official spokesperson” of the global terrorist group Islamic State, was among the liquidated terrorists”, the report says. We are still assessing the results of the strike, but Al-Adnani’s removal from the battlefield would mark another significant blow to ISIS. “Al-Adnani has served as principal architect of ISIL’s external operations and as ISIL’s chief spokesman”.
“He has coordinated the movement of ISIL fighters, directly encouraged lone-wolf attacks on civilians and members of the military and actively recruited new ISIL members”, he said.
Al-Adnani was killed as Turkish and Kurdish forces attacked ISIS-controlled areas of Aleppo, al-Masdar News reported.
The Islamic State reported Tuesday that its official spokesman and senior leader, Abu Muhammed al-Adnani, was killed in Syria, according to the Associated Press.
Still, both the Islamic State group – and its forerunner, al-Qaida in Iraq – have overcome past leadership losses, said Joscelyn, editor of the Long War Journal. He is also believed to have directed the attacks on the Brussels and Istanbul airports, and the bloody hostage attack in Bangladesh. He added that the symbolism of Adnan lies in the fact that he is Syrian and an al-Qaeda defector.
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His death is a major blow to the extremist group, which has been on the retreat in Syria and Iraq. Western officials are hoping that the hit will impair the ability of ISIS to carry out foreign attacks.
