Omar al-Shishani, a top Islamic
State commander who was a magnet for fighters from the former
Soviet Union, has died of wounds suffered in a U.S. airstrike in
Syria, a senior Iraqi intelligence official and the head of a
Syrian activist group said Tuesday, according to the Associated
Press.
Al-Shishani, who was wounded in a U.S. airstrike earlier this
month, died on Monday evening outside the Islamic State
group's main stronghold of Raqqa in Syria, the two told The
Associated Press. A U.S. military spokesman confirmed the
reports.
The ISIS-affiliated Aamaq news agency cited an unnamed source
as denying that al-Shishani was wounded or killed, without
providing any evidence that he was still alive.
The red-bearded ethnic Chechen, who was in his 30s, was one
of the most prominent ISIS commanders, appearing in several
online videos leading fighters into battle. He served as the top
commander in Syria before being appointed to lead three elite
units that carried out special missions in Syria and Iraq,
according to Hisham al-Hashimi, an Iraqi scholar who closely
follows the group.
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