Senior ISIS commander killed after U.S. airstrike in Syria

Omar al-Shishani, a senior Islamic State operative, was killed following a U.S. airstrike in Syria last week, two U.S. officials told CNN.

Born Tarkhan Tayumurazovich Batirashvili, al-Shishani was injured in the airstrike in the al-Shaddadi area, and later died, the officials said. Al-Shishani was at a meeting with other ISIS fighters, having traveled to the area from ISIS's de facto capital of Raqqa; 12 additional militants also were killed.

The U.S. State Department was offering a $5 million reward for al-Shishani, who was once a member of an elite Georgian military unit. An official said he joined ISIS in 2013, and was later in charge of a prison near Raqqa. Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook said al-Shishani's death "would negatively impact" ISIS's "ability to recruit foreign fighters, especially those from Chechnya and the Caucus regions."

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