Abu Omar al-Shishani, who the Pentagon described as the Islamic State group’s “minister of war,” was killed in combat in the Iraqi city of Shirqat, south of Mosul, a news agency that supports the militant group said on Wednesday.
The Pentagon said in March that al-Shishani had likely been killed in a US airstrike in Syria, but this was the first time the group appeared to confirm his death.
Reuters could not independently verify the statement from Amaq news agency, which the militant group regularly uses to issue reports and which denied al-Shishani’s death after the Pentagon’s comments in March.
Photo: AFP/Al-Itisam Media
Islamic State supporters exchanged notes of praise and condolence on social media, including pictures of the ginger-bearded fighter, and pledged to launch a fresh offensive in his honor.
Officials at the Pentagon said they were aware of Wednesday’s report, but could not confirm or deny it.
Hisham al-Hashimi, a security expert based in Baghdad who advises the Iraqi government, said a source in Shirqat confirmed al-Shishani had been killed there along with several other militants.
Iraqi forces are advancing towards Mosul, the largest city still under the control of the Islamic State group. They have mostly surrounded Shirqat, 250km north of Baghdad, and last week retook a major air base from the militants to use in the main push on Mosul, 60km further north.
However, Rami Abdelrahman, head of the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said al-Shishani had been wounded in March and died soon after in the countryside east of Raqqa.
“I confirmed from the doctor who went to see him,” said Abdelrahman, who tracks the war in Syria through a network of contacts.
He said the group likely delayed announcing his death to allow time to line up a successor.
Al-Shishani, also known as Omar the Chechen, ranked among the US’ most wanted militants under a US program that offered up to US$5 million for information to help remove him from the battlefield.
Born in 1986 in Georgia, then still part of the Soviet Union, al-Shishani had a reputation as a close military adviser to Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who was said by followers to have relied heavily on him.
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