An Islamic State propaganda chief has been confirmed dead by the Pentagon and the militant group. In a brief statement, the Islamic State announced that Abu Mohammed al-Furqan, who was also known as Wa’il Adil Hasan Salman al-Fayad, had been killed.
Al-Furqan oversaw the creation of videos and web messages that would convince young and disenchanted Muslims in eastern and western countries to become fighters. They would be trained and brainwashed into committing horrific acts similar to the ones that took place in Europe and America.
The statement was posted Monday on social media. The terrorist organization did not elaborate on the time nor the place where their propaganda chief was bombed. For those who had any doubt, the Islamic State militant group did refer to al-Furqan as head of its media arm in their tribute. Experts said:
“ISIL’s use of social media has been described by one expert as “probably more sophisticated than [that of] most US companies”. It regularly takes advantage of social media, particularly Twitter, to distribute its message by organising hashtag campaigns, encouraging Tweets on popular hashtags, and utilising software applications that enable ISIL propaganda to be distributed automatically via its supporters’ accounts.”
They went on to reveal:
“In August 2014, Twitter administrators shut down a number of accounts associated with ISIL. ISIL recreated and publicised new accounts the next day, which were also shut down by Twitter administrators. The group has attempted to branch out into alternative social media sites, such as Quitter, Friendica and Diaspora; Quitter and Friendica, however, almost immediately worked to remove ISIL’s presence from their sites.The group later began using the encrypted instant messaging service Telegram to disseminate images, videos and updates.”
It is believed that al-Furqan played the role of minister of information in the organization. Al-Furqan was not only ISIS’ propaganda chief, but he was also the Senior Shura Council, the leadership of the group. While ISIS is silent on the matter, the Pentagon has communicated several pieces of information on the death of the terrorist.
The Pentagon said that on September 7, a U.S.-led coalition airstrike killed al-Furqan. The head of ISIS’ media arm was hit by a bomb as he was traveling near Raqqa, IS’s de facto capital in northern Syria.
According to the Pentagon, al-Furqan was on a motorcycle near his home when the strike took place. ISIS has a grip on most of Iraq and Syria and has broadcast where fighters take great pride in filming themselves as they destroy historical monuments and precious artifacts dating from the 13th century.
The mass murderers have also beheaded Western reporters, soldiers, Christians, aide workers and massacred thousands of civilians.
