Isis says second-in-command, Abu Muhammed al-Adnani, has been killed in Syria

The terror caliphate Isis has announced that its chief spokesman and one of its most senior figureheads has been killed in the Syrian city of Aleppo.

Abu Muhammed al-Adnani was “martyred while surveying the operations to repel the military campaigns against Aleppo,” the group’s Aamaq News Agency said on Tuesday without providing any details. No date of his death was given although a eulogy of Adnani was released, dated 29 August 2016.
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Adnani was believed to be the second most important leader of Isis, after Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, in charge of all of its operations beyond the bounds of its self-declared caliphate in Syria and Iraq. He is also one of the group's longest-serving top commanders. Some western offiicals believe he met al-Baghadi in a US prison camp after being arrested in Iraq in 2005.

The Aamaq agency vowed to take revenge against the “filthy cowards in the sect of disbelief.” It said a generation raised in Isis-held territory will strike back.

If the death of Adnani is confirmed, it could represent the most significant kill ever of a top lieutenant of Isis by its enemies. Far more than just a spokesman for the group, he was a top strategist, particularly when it came to orchestrating terror attacks overseas, including in western European countries like France. It was Adnani, western officials believe, who helped plan some of those attacks and deployed Isis soldiers from the caliphate to carry them out.

He also stood out for his chilling choices of words when calling for a new unleashing of terror in the West. In one statement to the Isis faithful, Adnani urged the killing of the "filfthy French", adding that if it proved difficult to achieve that with either a bullet or a knife, the next best thing was to "crush them with your car". That staement seeemd to take on fresh significance after the terror attack in Nice in July when a 19-tonne cargo lorry was driven through a crowd killing 86 people.

While US officials said they were aware of the report, they could not immediately add any details or indeed confirm the death of Adnani.

Isis has come under increasing military pressure both from the US and its allies as well as from Russia and the forces of the Syrian government. While it holds territory in Aleppo state it is not in control of Aleppo itself where rebels are fighting fiercely with Syrian government forces.