Top Islamic State commander and feared ethnic Chechen jihadi fighter Omar al-Shishani dies of wounds suffered in a US airstrike in Syria, a senior Iraqi intelligence official and the head of a Syrian activist group says.
There is no immediate confirmation of his death from the Islamic State group but the IS-affiliated Aamaq news agency denies he was killed, saying that the “he was not subjected to any injury.” The outlet quotes an unnamed “source” for the denial, without giving further details or evidence that al-Shishani was still alive.
An American spokesman for the US-led coalition battling the Islamic State group in Iraq said the alliance was also confirming the militant commander had died.
Omar al-Shishani (YouTube screenshot)
The red-bearded ethnic Chechen was one of the most prominent IS commanders, who earlier served as the group’s military commander for the territory it controls in Syria. He later became the commander of the group’s ground forces, according to Hisham al-Hashimi, an Iraqi scholar and author who closely follows the group.
— AP
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