The Pentagon says a US airstrike has killed one of the self-styled Islamic State terrorist group’s most senior leaders, Wa’il Adil Hasan Salman al-Fayad, in Syria.
Also known as Dr Wa’il, he was minister of information for IS, and oversaw the production of propaganda videos showing executions.
The Pentagon said the strike had taken place near Raqqa on 7 September, BBC reported. Fayad was a close associate of IS strategist Abu Muhammad al-Adnani, who was killed in an airstrike last month.
“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,” Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook said in a statement, using an alternative name for IS. “We will continue to work with our coalition partners to build momentum in the campaign to deal ISIL a lasting defeat.”
Cook said Fayad had also been a member of the IS leadership group, the Shura Council. Earlier this week, the Pentagon said the chief propagandist for IS—Abu Mohamed al-Adnani—had been killed in an airstrike in northern Syria last month. He was one of the IS group’s most high-profile figures with a $5 million bounty on his head.
