Islamic State leader with links to Paris attacks killed in Syria air strike

Linked: The Islamic State linked is said to have a direct connection to the suspected mastermind behind the Paris attacks Abdelhamid Abaaoud
Jamie Bullen29 December 2015

An Islamic State leader linked to the suspected ringleader behind the Paris terror attacks has been killed in an air strike in Syria, according to military officials.

US army colonel Steve Warren said coalition air strikes in Iraq and Syria had killed 10 IS militants over the past month, including those connected to atrocities carried out in the French capital in November.

Col Warren said Charaffe al Mouadan, a Syria-based jihadist with a direct link to suspected Paris plotter Abdelhamid Abaaoud, was killed by a strike in Syria on Christmas Eve.

Abaaoud was killed by anti-terror police at an apartment in Paris five days after the shootings in which 130 people were massacred.

Col Warren added Abdul Qader Hakim, who facilitated the militants' external operations and also had links to the Paris attacks, died after bombing in the Iraqi city of Mosul on Boxing Day.

Reclaimed: The Iraqi army retook the city of Ramadi after it was taken over by Islamic State militants in May
PA

He said most of the others who were killed appeared to be mid-level leaders.

Col Warren said: “Over the past month, we've killed 10 ISIL leadership figures with targeted air strikes, including several external attack planners, some of whom are linked to the Paris attacks.

“Others had designs on further attacking the West."

He said the air strikes targeted against Islamic State’s leadership had led to a weakening of the terror group on the battlefield but warned they still remained capable of launching a fight back.

The Iraqi army scored a major victory this week when forces declared the capture of Ramadi, a provincial capital west of Baghdad taken over by Islamic State in May.

Col Warren added: “Part of those successes is attributable to the fact that the organization is losing its leadership.”

"It's still got fangs."

Additional reporting by Press Association

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