Isis admits 'emir' of media operations killed in air strike

The Islamic State (Isis) has admitted that a senior commander, who was in charge of the group's propaganda operations has been killed in an air strike. The Pentagon had earlier said that Abu Mohammad al-Furqan had died when US forces mounted a precision strike in the city of Raqqa, the de facto capital of IS (Daesh) in Syria.

A brief statement released by jihadist networks on social media confirmed that al-Furgan, who also goes by the name Wa'il Adil Hasan Salman al-Fayad, had attained "martyrdom", but did not divulge more details, AFP reported. He was often regarded as the Islamist organisation's "minister of information" who oversaw production videos mainly that of execution and torture.

The Iraq-based group, which formally came into existence in 2014, rose to prominence by capitalising on its propaganda methods. Counter-terrorism experts believe that the group's high-quality production techniques and media operations are part of intimidation tactics that IS has used to terrorise opponents and governments.

In September, the Pentagon had said the media chief, who was also heading the al-Furgan jihadi channel, was a close associate of Abu Mohamed al-Adnani, the IS spokesperson who was also killed by the US forces in August.

"Wa'il oversaw ISIL's [IS] production of terrorist propaganda videos showing torture and executions," a Pentagon spokesperson said at the time of announcing the media chief's death. "We will continue to work with our coalition partners to build momentum in the campaign to deal ISIL a lasting defeat."