Described by the Pentagon
as the IS "minister of war", al Shishani is one of America's most
wanted terrorists and has a $5m (£3.5m) bounty on his head.
The US Treasury describes
him as IS' top commander and leader in northern Syria who had maintained
"unique authority" in the group with about 1,000 foreign fighters
under his command.
He had a reputation as a
close military adviser to IS leader Abu Bakr al Baghdadi, who reportedly relies
heavily on al Shishani.
The red-bearded militant
was born in Georgia in 1986, when it was still part of the Soviet Union.
Islamic State's military
commander has reportedly been seriously wounded in a US airstrike, but is still
alive.
The claim by the
British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights contradicts American
officials, who said Abu Omar al Shishani could have been killed in the aerial
attack.
The militant, also known as
Omar the Chechen, was targeted near the Syrian town of al Shadadi on Friday, US
officials said earlier this week.
The strike itself involved
multiple waves of manned and unmanned aircraft, a US official told Reuters.
But Observatory director
Rami Abdulrahman said al Shishani been badly wounded but "did not
die".
He was transported to the
group's de facto capital Raqqa for treatment, Mr Abdulrahman said.
The town of al Shadadi was
captured from IS last month by US-backed forces from the Syrian Arab Coalition.
The Pentagon believes al
Shishani was sent there to bolster IS forces after they suffered a series of
setbacks.
Dailymail
Sky News
No comments:
Post a Comment