Senior ISIS commander dies of wounds from US strike in Syria

(ANSA) - Rome, March 15 - Omar al-Shishani, a top Islamic State commander who was a magnet for fighters from the former Soviet Union, has died of wounds suffered in a U.S. airstrike in Syria, a senior Iraqi intelligence official and the head of a Syrian activist group said Tuesday, according to the Associated Press.
    Al-Shishani, who was wounded in a U.S. airstrike earlier this month, died on Monday evening outside the Islamic State group's main stronghold of Raqqa in Syria, the two told The Associated Press. A U.S. military spokesman confirmed the reports.
    The ISIS-affiliated Aamaq news agency cited an unnamed source as denying that al-Shishani was wounded or killed, without providing any evidence that he was still alive.
    The red-bearded ethnic Chechen, who was in his 30s, was one of the most prominent ISIS commanders, appearing in several online videos leading fighters into battle. He served as the top commander in Syria before being appointed to lead three elite units that carried out special missions in Syria and Iraq, according to Hisham al-Hashimi, an Iraqi scholar who closely follows the group.