American and Syrian Kurdish forces killed the Islamic State terrorist group’s spokesman on Sunday morning, hours after the group’s leader blew himself up during a raid by U.S. special operations forces, a Kurdish official announced.
Abu Hassan al Muhajir died in an airstrike in Ain al Baydah, a village in northern Syria controlled by Turkish-backed Syrian rebels, while riding in the back of a tanker truck, the official claimed. Videos and pictures reportedly taken at the scene of the attack show corpses and a tanker truck on fire, but U.S. officials have yet to confirm Muhajir’s death.
Syrian Democratic Forces commander Mazloum Kobane announced Muhajir’s death on Twitter, writing, “The mission was conducted via direct coordination of SDF Intel & US military apart the ongiong [sic] ops to hunt ISIS leaders.”
Little is known about Muhajir, including his real name, nationality, and background. The once vocal spokesman issued his last public statement in March when he condemned the killing of 50 Muslims during a white supremacist attack in Christchurch, New Zealand.
[Related: ISIS vows to fight on despite Baghdadi death]
#BREAKING : #Syrian Democratic Forces Commander, Mazlum Abdi, Said: The coalition’s plane struck a vehicle in city of #Jarablus north of #Aleppo, which killed Abu Hassan Al-Muhajir, the spokesman of ISIS. https://t.co/E0UrLJFOcd pic.twitter.com/VvqwDxLHfz
— Conflict Intelligence Network ? (@ConflictTeam) October 28, 2019
Muhajir replaced former ISIS spokesman Abu Mohammad al Adnani following Adnani’s death in August 2016. He issued six official speeches during his tenure, the first of which was published in December 2016. Muhajir was considered a potential successor to ISIS leader Abu Bakr al Baghdadi.
The Times of London reported that two vehicles at the site appeared to have been been hit: “A pick-up truck was seen with bodies strewn next to it and there was a larger truck carrying a body inside a container. Video and pictures believed to be from the scene show a charred corpse inside a metal box and other remains scattered across the ground.”
A pro-ISIS Telegram channel downplayed the impact of Baghdadi’s death on Sunday.
“What the impure Crusaders do not understand with regard to the Muslims’ creed, especially that of the jihad fighters, is that jihad in its entirety is not founded on men, but on creed,” the channel said. “The creed does not die with the death or killing of men.”
