Key ISIS figure killed in Syria’s Aleppo

This undated militant image provided by SITE Intel Group shows Abu Muhammed al-Adnani, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) group’s spokesperson. ISIS said Adnani was “martyred” in northern Syria. The ISis-run Amaq news agency said Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2016 that al-Adnani was “martyred while surveying the operations to repel the military campaigns against Aleppo,” without providing further details.  AP

BEIRUT, Lebanon — The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) group said Tuesday its spokesman Abu Mohamed al-Adnani was killed in the Syrian province of Aleppo, as the US confirmed an ISIS “senior leader” was targeted in the same area.

Quoting an ISIS “military source”, the group’s news agency Amaq said: “Sheikh Abu Mohamed al-Adnani… was martyred while surveying operations to repel the military campaigns against Aleppo.”

It said he died after a “long voyage crowned by sacrifice” and vowed “revenge” at the hands of a “new generation born unto the Islamic State”.

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Meanwhile in Washington, a US defense official said, speaking on condition of anonymity: “Coalition forces conducted an air strike in Al-Bab, Syria, targeting a senior leader.”

“We are still assessing the results of the operation at this time,” the official added, without specifying whether Adnani was the high-level target.

In September 2014, the US government designated Adnani a “global terrorist” and the State Department has offered a $5 million reward for anyone who supplies information “that brings him to justice.”

Analysts have described Adnani as a key figure in the jihadist group.

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“In the collective jihadist memory Abu Mohamed al-Adnani will always be the one who announced the ‘restoration of the caliphate’ in June 2014,” said expert Romain Caillet.

Adnani was originally from the western Syrian province of Idlib and joined the jihadist movement in Iraq, where he served now slain Al-Qaeda leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and held several positions.

Aymenn Jawad Tamimi, an expert on jihadist groups, said Adnani’s death was “significant symbolically and in pointing to the wider decline of the Islamic State”.

“If a coalition air strike hit him, it shows intelligence penetration by the coalition is very high. Otherwise it would not have been possible to take out so many high-ranking figures,” he said.

Another analyst, Charles Lister, tweeted that Adnani’s death was a “big blow to ISIS”.

Amaq did not say how Adnani was “martyred”.

ISIS has regularly urged followers to target disbelievers.

Adnani made such a request in September 2014, calling on supporters to use stones, knives or even vehicles in their attacks to kill French or US citizens.