US strike 'kills IS propaganda chief'

Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said Friday that a US-led coalition airstrike had killed the man considered to be the information minister for "Islamic State" (IS).

Wa'il Adil Hasan Salman al-Fayad, also known as Dr. Wa'il, was killed on September 7 near Raqqa, in Syria. One of the group's most senior leaders, Wa'il "oversaw ISIL's production of terrorist propaganda videos showing torture and executions," Cook said, using an alternate name for IS.

Cook said the US and its coalition partners would continue to target IS, which holds territory in Iraq and Syria and has sympathizers in many other countries.

Another IS leader killed

The announcement comes several days after the Pentagon confirmed that an airstrike had killed another top IS figure, Abu Mohammed al-Adnani, who helped coordinate the group's attacks abroad.

"The strike near al-Bab, Syria, removes from the battlefield ISIL's chief propagandist, recruiter and architect of external terrorist operations," Cook said on Tuesday.

Wa'il was closely affiliated with al-Adnani, who IS had confirmed dead in late August.

blc/cmk (AFP, Reuters)