Daesh commander 'Omar the Chechen' dead, US confirms

This image from undated video shows Omar Al Shishani standing next to the group's spokesman among a group of fighters as they declare the elimination of the border between Iraq and Syria.

Washington - Iraqi official, Syrian activist say senior Daesh leader Al Shishani died on Monday outside Raqqa, Syria.

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By AFP

Published: Tue 15 Mar 2016, 1:59 PM

Last updated: Wed 16 Mar 2016, 9:18 AM

A top Daesh commander known as "Omar the Chechen" is dead after suffering injuries in a US-led coalition strike in northeastern Syria, the Pentagon confirmed on Monday. 
The announcement would appear to clear up the fate of the notorious Omar Al Shishani, a week after a US official said the most-wanted militant had been targeted in a March 4 attack on the militant's convoy. 
"We believe he subsequently died of his injuries," Navy Captain Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman, told AFP. 
On Sunday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said Shishani had been 'clinically dead" for several days. 
Shishani - the nom de guerre of Tarkhan Batirashvili - was one of the Daesh leaders most wanted by Washington, which put a $5 million bounty on his head.

AFP

Published: Tue 15 Mar 2016, 1:59 PM

Last updated: Wed 16 Mar 2016, 9:18 AM

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