Coalition forces targeted and killed a senior Islamic State leader known as "Dr. Wa’il" with an air strike near Raqqa, Syria, earlier this month, the Pentagon said Friday.
The precision strike killed Wa’il Adil Hasan Salman al-Fayad, one of the terror group’s "most senior leaders," on Sept. 7, Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook said in a statement Friday.
The announcement of the successful strike comes just days after the Pentagon confirmed that Abu Muhammad al-Adnani, a senior leader and spokesman of the group, was killed in a U.S. precision airstrike at the end of August. Russia also claimed responsibility for the strike targeting al-Adnani, which the Pentagon refuted.
"[Dr. Wa’il] operated as the minister of Information for the terror organization and was a prominent member of its Senior Shura Council–ISIL’s leadership group," Cook said Friday, using another name for ISIS.
"Wa’il oversaw ISIL’s production of terrorist propaganda videos showing torture and executions. He was a close associate of Abu Muhammad al-Adnani, the ISIL spokesman and leader for plotting and inspiring external terror attacks. Al-Adnani was successfully struck and killed by coalition forces on Aug. 30," Cook further stated.
The Pentagon said that the removal of Dr. Wa’il from the battlefield degrades the terror group’s "ability to retain territory, and its ability to plan, finance, and direct attacks inside and outside of the region."
The U.S.-led coalition has been conducting airstrikes in Syria and Iraq targeting ISIS militants. U.S. special forces are also on the ground training, advising, and assisting local forces as they retake territory from the terror group in Syria and Iraq.