Pentagon: Top ISIS leader in Iraq killed by U.S. airstrike

On Monday, the Pentagon announced that one of the top leaders in the Islamic State, Abu Wahib, was killed last week in Iraq following a U.S. airstrike.

Born Shaker Wahib al-Fahdawi al-Dulaim, he was the "military emir" of Anbar, and believed to be around 30 years old. He was killed in western Iraq along with three other ISIS members on May 6, while they traveled in a vehicle. Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook said it's "dangerous" for ISIS leaders to be in Iraq and Syria, since they have been "hit hard by coalition efforts, and this is another example of that."

Before ISIS, there was al-Qaeda in Iraq, and Wahib was an early member, The Washington Post reports. Before joining, he worked as a computer programmer in Iraq, and in the mid-2000s, he was detained by U.S. forces. After being transferred to an Iraqi prison in 2011, he escaped. Wahib made several videos showing himself in ninja-like outfits practicing martial arts moves and firing guns, as well as a horrifying tape where he was shown murdering three Syrian civilian drivers on the side of a road.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up