IS propaganda chief killed in airstrike

Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said on Friday in a statement that the airstrike took place near Raqqa, Syria, and targeted and killed the top IS militant, also known as Dr Wa’il. “He was a close associate of Abu Muhammad al-Adnani, the ISIL spokesman and leader for plotting and inspiring external terror attacks.” On August 30, Islamic State said Adnani was killed in a US airstrike in Syria, which was later confirmed by the Pentagon. The Islamic State group controls parts of Iraq and Syria, and has broadcast its beheadings of journalists and aid workers over the past few years. The group has sympathisers in several countries who have carried out bombings and shootings of civilians. The Pentagon said that Wa’il was the minister of information, and a prominent member of the Islamic State’s Senior Shura Council, or leadership group. A US Defence Department official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said that Wa’il was targeted by the airstrike while he was on a motorcycle outside his house. “Wa’il oversaw ISIL’s production of terrorist propaganda videos showing torture and executions,” Cook said in the statement, using an acronym for the group. On Friday, the Pentagon acknowledged that US special operation forces are accompanying Turkish and vetted Syrian opposition forces battling Islamic State in and around the area of the Syrian border near al-Rai and the town of Jarablus, further east.