The Islamic State confirmed Monday that its propaganda chief, Wa’il Adil Hasan Salman al-Fayad, has died.
The Pentagon said al-Fayad, also known as Abu Mohammed al-Furqan, was killed in a U.S.-led airstrike in Syria’s Raqqa province in early September, according to Reuters.
The news was confirmed in an online statement that paid tribute to the propaganda chief.
According to Reuters, al-Fayad was minister of information, overseer of Islamic State’s propaganda, and a prominent member of its Senior Shura Council prior to his death.
He was one of few remaining founding members of IS, according to BBC News, and he had reportedly been a major media leader for the group, setting up key media outfits and playing a major role in launching its multilingual magazines.
Al-Fayad’s nickname ‘al-Furqan’ has been said to have derived from his role in running al-Furqan Media Foundation, which was the militant group's media arm for years, BBC noted.
IS rules large parts of Iraq and Syria and has been known to broadcast its beheadings of journalists and aid workers, Reuters noted.
Al-Fayad's death comes at a time when IS propaganda is experiencing a decline.
According to the Combating Terrorism Center of the U.S. military academy at West Point, the volume of IS propaganda decreased to 200 items in August, down from 700 the prior year, the BBC reported.
Despite al-Fayad’s involvement in IS, there were no public profiles made about him prior to his death and he was never officially mentioned by the group in the past, even though secrecy is considered normal behavior based on the group’s policy.
“The removal of ISIL’s senior leaders degrades its ability to retain territory, and its ability to plan, finance, and direct attacks inside and outside of the region,” the Pentagon said in their statement, as they using a different name for IS.
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