A media outlet run by the so-called Islamic State (IS) says one of the militant group’s top commanders, Umar al-Shishani, has been killed in fighting near the northern Iraqi city of Mosul.
The IS-run Aamaq news agency reported on July 13 that Shishani was killed in the town of Al-Shirqat, near Mosul, while fighting against Iraqi government forces in the IS-held city.
IS supporters on social media, meanwhile, published eulogies to Shishani.
U.S. and Iraqi officials, as well as Syrian activists, said in March that Shishani had been killed as a result of a U.S. air strike in Syria.
Aamaq denied that Shishani was killed in March but never provided evidence that he was alive.
It was not immediately possible to reconcile the conflicting reports.
