He formed militant cells in Europe to carry out organized attacks and inspired “lone wolves” who struck out on their own. He was also reported to have been involved in organising high-profile ISIS attacks overseas that killed hundreds, including in Paris, Brussels and Istanbul.
Advertisement
A United States defense official called Adnani “one of ISIL’s most senior leaders”, stressing that he was “way more” than simply the group’s spokesman.
Russian Federation disputed that on Wednesday, saying its planes had targeted al-Adnani. “And we are still assessing the results of that strike”, Cook said.
However, the Defense Department said a day earlier that us -led coalition forces “conducted a precision strike” targeting Adnani in Aleppo, though he did not immediately confirm his death.
The report says that Abu Muhammad al-Adnani was “martyred while surveying the operations to repel the military campaigns against Aleppo” and vowed to avenge his death. It didn’t provide details. Although it did not confirm his death, the Pentagon announced that coalition forces conducted a “precision strike” targeting him near Al-Bab, a Syrian town near the border with Turkey. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence information.
The statement said that “The Secretary of State has authorized rewards of up to $7 million for information on ‘Abd al-Rahman Mustafa al-Qaduli; up to $5 million each for information on Abu Mohammed Al-Adnani and Tarkhan Tayumurazovich Batirashvili; and up to $3 million for information on Tariq Bin-Al-Tahar Bin Al- Falih Al-‘Awni Al-Harzi”.
“It will take time for them [IS] to replace him, but we shouldn’t be singing chants of joy yet, because they probably thought that some of them would have been killed and the replacement would be in the pipeline, ” he said. He is also believed to have directed the attacks on the Brussels and Istanbul airports, and the bloody hostage attack in Bangladesh.
Here are some facts about al-Adnani-the Daesh propagandist.
Meanwhile, Russia’s military yesterday said its air strikes had killed Adnani.
Al-Adnani was born Taha Sobhi Falaha in the northern Syrian town of Banash in 1977 and had a U.S. bounty of $5m (£3.82m) on his head. It will undoubtedly be a tough blow for the militant group.
After Bagdhad fell to US -led forces in the ill considered invasion of 2003, Zarqawi and his coterie, including Adnani, took advantage of the chaotic occupation and established themselves as a ferocious part of the resistance. ISIS did not specify when and how Adnani died.
“It would be laughable but for the very real humanitarian suffering Russian Federation has inflicted”, the defense official said Wednesday.
Born in 1977, al-Adnani made a point of encouraging supporters to kill Western non-believers wherever they could. He was imprisoned by the Americans twice in Iraq, spending six years in prison, held along with al-Zarqawi’s strongest backers.
Experts have warned of a possible increase in jihadist attacks in the West as IS faces growing pressure in Syria, where U.S. officials estimate the group has lost 20 percent of the territory it once held, and in Iraq, where it has lost about 50 percent.
Russian Federation has been running its own bombing campaign in Syria in support of President Bashar al-Assad since September, but this was the first time it has claimed to have killed a high-ranking ISIS leader.
A powerful orator, he went on to become the voice of ISIS.
He was last heard in an audio message in May urging Muslims to carry out attacks in the West.
Earlier this year, he called for attacks during Ramadan, with followers carrying out attacks including the Orlando nightclub shooting, the truck attack in the French city of Nice and a massive suicide bombing in Baghdad.
Advertisement
These included its “minister of war” Omar al-Shishani, feared Iraqi militant Shaker Wuhayeb, also known as Abu Wahib, and a top finance official known by several names, including Abu Ali Al-Anbari.
