US confirms it killed Islamic State’s spokesman and external operations chief

Fourteen days after the Islamic State announced that Abu Muhammad al Adnani, one of the group’s top leaders, was killed in an airstrike near Al Bab, Syria, the US military released a statement confirming his death. The US military’s announcement discredits claims from Russia’s Ministry of Defense that one of its warplanes killed Adnani in Maaratat-Umm Khaush.

The following statement from Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook confirming Adnani’s death was released by the US Department of Defense on Sept. 12:

The Department of Defense has confirmed that the US precision airstrike on Aug. 30 targeting senior ISIL [Islamic State] leader Abu Muhammad Al-Adnani was successful. The strike near Al Bab, Syria, removes from the battlefield ISIL’s chief propagandist, recruiter and architect of external terrorist operations. It is one in a series of successful strikes against ISIL leaders, including those responsible for finances and military planning, that make it harder for the group to operate. As we continue to gather momentum in our counter-ISIL campaign, we will continue to target ISIL leaders, relentlessly pursue its external plotters, and, working with our partners on the ground, we will not rest in our efforts to destroy ISIL’s parent tumor in Iraq and Syria, combat its metastases around the world, and protect our homeland.

It is unclear why the US military needed two weeks to confirm that it eliminated Adnani. On Aug. 30, the Islamic State’s official media outlets announced that Adnani was killed and eulogized the commander, who served as the group’s top spokesman, recruiter, and head of its external operations branch. [See LWJ report, Islamic State says senior official killed in Aleppo province.]

Russia initially claimed it killed Adnani “in attacks carried out by a Su-34 bomber in Maaratat-Umm Khaush, Syria,” NBC News reported the day after Adnani’s death was announced. US military officials dismissed Russia’s claim as “a joke,” while the Department of Defense acknowledged on Aug. 30 that its warplanes targeted Adnani in Al Bab.

Bill Roggio is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the Editor of FDD's Long War Journal.

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