The Pentagon could not confirm reports that a top online recruiter for the Islamic group was killed, a spokesman said, but added that the military has conducted a “number of strikes” against Islamic State leaders in Syria over the past three days.
“We have conducted a number of strikes over the past 72 hours in Syria specifically at ISIL leadership, but we don’t have any specifics we’re prepared to announce yet,” Capt. Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman, said on Thursday.
Media reports say that Junaid Hussein, a British-born computer hacker who joined the Islamic State and became one of their top cyber recruiters, was killed by a U.S. drone strike on Tuesday in Syria. Hussein arrived in Syria in 2013 and allegedly used social media to recruit more people to join the cause and carry out attacks on U.S. service members, Fox News reported.
If reports are true, it would be the second key Islamic State leader killed by U.S. strikes this month. The White House announced Friday that ISIS second-in-command Fadhil Ahmad al-Hayali was killed last week near Mosul, Iraq.
