OSINT Summary:
Top ISIS Commander known as Abu Umar al-Shishani has succumbed to injuries he incurred in an airstrike targeted at him in northeastern Syria. Al-Shishani’s death was confirmed by Rami Abdel Rahma head of Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
The Pentagon announced that al-Shishani was the target of airstrike in Syria and reported that they had severely injured him in an airstrike in Syria’s al-Hassakeh province that killed 11 of his guards.
Al-Shishani dubbed as ISIS’ minister of war was a former sergeant in the Georgian army with his unit reportedly receiving training from the US Forces. His real name is Tarkhan Tayumurazovich Batirashvili. He was designated as a global terrorist under US Treasury Sanctions in 2014.
He left Georgia in 2013 only to turn up in Syria in 2013 having embraced extremist Islam beliefs and is said to be the mastermind behind an extremist group’s attack on Syria’s Menagh military airbase.
Al-Shishani signature red hair and specialized military background had made him very iconic among jihadists’ circles and he led a group of foreign fighters that joined the Islamic State rising in ranks to one of the top commanders especially of foreign origin.
