ISIS confirms death of key leader Omar al-Shishani
ISIS-linked news agency Amaq confirmed that Omar al-Shishani, a key Islamic State leader, was dead. It said Omar was killed during a combat in Shirqat, a town near Mosul, Iraq. Omar is regarded as the Islamic State's 'minister of war'. This contradicts the earlier reports where Pentagon, in March, said that Omar died in an air strike by US, in Syria.
Al-Baghdadi as head of ISIS
In 2010, al-Baghdadi emerged as the head of Iraqi al-Qaeda, the offshoot that later became ISIS. Baghdadi became prominent when he and his fighters defied al-Qaeda chief, Zawahiri, during the group's attempted merger with Syria's al-Nusra.
Who is fighting the ISIS?
A US-led coalition to fight ISIS began in August 2014 in Iraq, and in September 2014 in Syria. This was in response to ISIS offensives in these countries. The coalition includes: US, UK, France, Germany, Canada, Denmark, Belgium, Netherlands, Australia, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and UAE. Russia made its intervention in September 2015, in Syria, at the request of country's president Bashar al-Assad.
Jihadi John dead in Syrian air strike
Mohammed Emwazi or 'Jihadi John' was confirmed dead by the Islamic State. He died in a Syrian air strike. Jihadi John who joined the IS in 2012, first appeared in a YouTube video in August 2014 which showed the decapitated body of James Foley, a US journalist. He was also seen in many other videos where he beheaded his victims.
ISIS head Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi rumoured dead
The leader of Islamic State Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was reportedly killed during an air raid by US on Raqqa, the ISIS stronghold in Syria. However there was no confirmation from the US or its allied forces, regarding the same. The ISIS leader had a bounty of $25 million on his head. ISIS refuted the claims by airing a recording of Baghdadi denying the attack.
2 ISIS commanders killed, says Pentagon
The Pentagon, in a statement, said that a 25 June air strike on Mosul killed Basim Muhammad Ahmad Sultan al-Bajari, ISIS' deputy war minister and Hatim Talib al-Hamduni, a military commander. This comes a few days after the Iraqi forces took back Fallujah city from the Islamic State. Now city of Mosul is the only remaining urban Iraqi stronghold of ISIS.
More Dead ISIS leaders
The ISIS leaders dead during coalition attacks include : Fadhil Ahmad al-Hayali, al-Baghdadi's righthand man, Haji Imam, IS' top financier, Abu Sayyaf, IS' Chief oil minister, Abu salah, IS' chief accountant, Abu Nabil, head of IS' Libya operations, al-Mouadan, central to 2015 Paris attacks.
$5 m on Shishani's head
Omar al-Shishani also called Omar the Chechen, was among America's most wanted terrorists. A US programme even offered close to $5 million for information to help eliminate Omar.
