by WorldTribune Staff, September 13, 2016
A Hellfire missile fired by a U.S. Predator drone ended the life of Islamic State of Iraq and Levant’s (ISIL’s) spokesman, the Pentagon confirmed on Sept. 12.
Abu Mohamed al-Adnani was killed when the drone targeted his convoy in northern Syria on Aug. 30.
Related: Help wanted: Two on short list for new ISIL spokesman, Sept. 6, 2016
“The strike near Al Bab, Syria, removes from the battlefield ISIL’s chief propagandist, recruiter and architect of external terrorist operations,” Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook said.
“It is one in a series of successful strikes against ISIL leaders, including those responsible for finances and military planning, that make it harder for the group to operate,” Cook added.
Adnani was said to have been ISIL’s second highest ranking leader after founder Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
The man who was dubbed “the face of ISIL” was last heard from in May, when he released a statement calling for attacks on the U.S. during the holy month of Ramadan.
Officials say Adnani had played a major role in ISIL’s mass casualty attacks in Paris, at the Brussels and Istanbul airports, at a cafe in Bangladesh, as well as the downing of a Russian airliner in the Sinai and suicide bombings at a rally in Ankara.
Soon after Adnani was killed, Russia claimed it was responsible for his death, a claim Pentagon officials dismissed as a “joke.”
Pentagon confirms ISIL spokesman killed by Hellfire missile fired by Predator drone added by World Tribune on
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