Daesh confirms key millitant killed

The Daesh terrorist group said Monday that a senior operative considered the group’s information minister had been killed, confirming an earlier Pentagon report.

An Daesh statement on social media affirmed the “martyrdom” of Abu Mohammad Al-Furqan, the nom de guerre of Wa’il Adil Hasan Salman Al-Fayad, saying he was an “emir” of the group’s central media body. It did not release any further details.
Last month the Pentagon said Al-Fayad, also known as “Dr. Wa’il,” was killed in a precision strike on Sept. 7 near Raqqa, the Syrian city that is the de facto capital of the terrorist group.
He oversaw the group’s media production of videos showing torture and executions, said the Pentagon, describing him as “one of ISIL’s most senior leaders” and a close associate of Abu Mohamed Al-Adnani, the Daesh group spokesman killed on Aug. 30.
Since it announced a self-styled caliphate across Iraq and Syria in 2014, Daesh has become notorious for broadcasting its macabre tactics.
The group’s online network has taken advantage of social media’s instant publishing power to circulate footage of mass killings and beheadings.
According to the BBC, the confirmation of his death comes at a time when research shows that the volume of Daesh propaganda is in decline.
A new study, by the Combating Terrorism Center of the US military academy at West Point, logged fewer than 200 items in August, down from a peak of more than 700 the year before.
“The removal of ISIL’s senior leaders degrades its ability to retain territory, and its ability to plan, finance, and direct attacks inside and outside of the region,” the Pentagon said in a statement, using an alternative name for Daesh.

Source: Arab News