This France 24 video supplements the initial news of Tuesday’s airstrike that killed a high-ranking ISIS leader in Syria. Now (and according to CNN), Russian officials announced that they launched the attack that took out Abu Muhammad al-Adnani, who was thought to be the number two person in the organization. CNN reports that Adnani was one of 40 ISIS militants who were killed by Russia in the Aleppo province. ISIS announced that Adnani was indeed killed, which is rare for the group, as it usually doesn’t make statements of this kind.
Adnani was known by many as the face of the Islamic State. He orchestrated terror attacks, but also recruited and educated new members. Some believe he had a hand in the Paris terror attacks that occurred last November. U.S. Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook says the U.S. is still investigating and hasn’t officially declared Adnani dead:
“We are still assessing the results of the strike, but al-Adnani’s removal from the battlefield would mark another significant blow to ISIS. Al-Adnani has served as principal architect of ISIS’ external operations and as ISIS’ chief spokesman … The U.S. military will continue to prioritize and relentlessly target ISIS leaders and external plotters in order to defend our homeland, our allies and our partners, while we continue to gather momentum in destroying ISIL’s parent tumor in Iraq and Syria and combat its metastases around the world.”
CNN terrorism analyst Paul Cruickshank said this is a significant blow to the group, as Adnani was pushing for the Islamic State to become a governing body and not just a terrorist group. Cruickshank went on to say he was “a more dangerous figure than Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi” since he was reportedly recruiting to launch more terror attacks similar to what happened in Paris.
(Via CNN)