A news agency linked to the Islamic State have revealed that Abu Omar al-Shishani was killed in combat in Shirqat in Iraq, he was labelled “minister of war” by the United States, Pentagon. The Pentagon stated that he was killed in a US air strike but only now have ISIL confirmed his death after repeated denials.
Supporters of the militant group have shared messages of condolences for Shishani on social media and have vowed to launch an offensive in his honour.
Baghdad-based security expert, Hisham al-Hashimi, who also advises the Iraqi Government said a source in Shirqat confirmed Shishani had been killed along with other militants.
Shishani, also called Omar the Chechen, has been deemed one of America’s most wanted militants under a U.S programme that offered up to $5 million for his removal on the battlefield.
He was born in 1986 in Georgia, then part of the Soviet Union. Shishani developed a reputation as a close military adviser to Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Supposedly Baghdadi relied strongly on him.
Shishani fought military operations as a rebel in Chechnya, then joining Georgia’s military in 2006 and fighting Russian troops. He was discharged two years later according to U.S reports due to medial issues.
He was arrested in 2010 for possession of weapons and spent over a year in jail, then leaving Georgia in 2012 for Istanbul and later Syria. Shishani joined Islamic State a year later and pledged loyalty to Baghdadi, he was officially identified as Islamic State’s military commander in a video shared by the group in 2014.
