Islamic State has admitted the death of its propaganda chief, whom the Pentagon said was killed in a US-led air strike in Syria’s Raqqa province last month.
The Islamic State on Monday confirmed the death of its propaganda chief, Wa’il Adil Hasan Salman al-Fayad.
A statement posted online by the group and quoted by Reuters paid tribute to al-Fayad, who was also known as Abu Mohammed al-Furqan. The statement just referred to him by his alias.
It did not say when, where or how he had died.
The Pentagon said last month that a U.S.-led coalition air strike on September 7 had killed al-Fayad.
He served as the group’s minister of information, overseeing Islamic State’s propaganda, and a prominent member of its Senior Shura Council, or leadership group.
ISIS’s statement referred to al-Fayad as head of its media arm.
The air strike took place near Raqqa, IS IS’s de facto capital in northern Syria, and targeted al-Fayad while he was on a motorcycle outside his house, the Pentagon said.
His death followed that of ISIS spokesman Abu Mohamed al-Adnani, who was killed in an American air strike on August 30.
Adnani was believed to have been ISIS’s second highest ranking leader, after founder Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
He was heard from as recently as last May, calling for attacks on the U.S. during the holy month of Ramadan. Al-Fayad was a close associate of Adnani.
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