US confirms death of senior IS member in Jan 8 strike

WASHINGTON, Jan 19 (KUNA) -- The Pentagon on Thursday confirmed that a January 8 coalition airstrike in Syria killed Abu Anas Al-Iraqi, a senior member of the so-called Islamic State group, as he was heading to Raqqah.
"Al-Iraqi was a long-time associate of ISIL's senior leadership, dating back to its origins of Al-Qaeda in Iraq," spokesman Peter Cook told a briefing, using the group's former acronym.
The senior IS member "oversaw media and financial operations and was a member of ISIL leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi's inner circle," Cook added.
Cook said that Al-Iraqi's death is a warning to IS fighters that "they will find no shelter anywhere on the battlefield." Meanwhile, US-backed fighters in Syria have cleared more than 3,000 sq kms since the start of the operation to retake Raqqah from the IS group, he revealed. (end) sd.gb