ISIS information minister ‘Dr Wa’il’ al-Fayad killed in US airstrike as noose tightens on terror group
Senior jihadi's death in Raqqa, Syria, comes just weeks after killing of second-in-command Abu Mohammad al-Adnani
ISIS information minister Wa'il Adil Hasan Salman al-Fayad has been killed in a US airstrike in Syria, the Pentagon has announced.
American military chiefs revealed the jihadi – who it described as “one of ISIL's most senior leaders” – died in a strike on the group’s terror capital Raqqa on 7 September.
A member of ISIS’s senior governing body the Shura Council, al-Fayad has a £3.8million bounty on his head.
Also known as ‘Dr Wa'il’, he was one of the terror group’s most high-profile figures.
Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook said: “Wa'il oversaw ISIL's production of terrorist propaganda videos showing torture and executions.”
Cook added: “The removal of ISIL's senior leaders degrades its ability to retain territory, and its ability to plan, finance, and direct attacks inside and outside of the region.
“We will continue to work with our coalition partners to build momentum in the campaign to deal ISIL a lasting defeat.”
The press secretary also revealed al-Fayad was “a close associate of Abu Muhammad al-Adnani, the ISIL spokesman and leader for plotting and inspiring external terror attacks”.
Al-Adnani – the group’s second-in-command who was widely tipped as a potential future leader – was killed in a US drone strike on 30 August.
His death was seen as a major blow for ISIS, which is coming under increasing pressure across Iraq and Syria.
The group recently banned women from wearing burkas in Mosul after a series of reported assassinations of top commanders by veiled assailants.
And they have even gone as far as pulling patrols from the streets of the city after repeatedly being targeted.
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