ISIS leader 'killed' in American airstrike in Libya while Paris terror attacks were underway
- ISIS commander Abu Nabil thought to have been killed in Darnah, Libya
- He was killed in the airstrike shortly after terror attacks began in Paris
- May have featured in video where 21 Coptic Christians were beheaded
- His death reduces ISIS's ability to recruit in Libya, a U.S. official said
- For full coverage of the Islamic State attacks visit www.dailymail.co.uk/ISIS
'Killed': ISIS commander Abu Nabil,
pictured, is thought to have been wiped out in the strike. His death had
previously been reported in July
A
U.S. airstrike is believed to have killed one of ISIS's top commanders
in Libya while the terror attacks in Paris were underway, a U.S.
military spokesman said.
The
operation to kill Iraqi national Abu Nabil in the eastern port city of
Darnah was conceived before terrorists went on a rampage in the French
capital, Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook said.
Nabil
was a long term al-Qaeda fighter and could have been the man who
threatened the West in the ISIS propaganda video in which 21 Coptic
Christians were executed on a Libyan beach, Mr Cook added.
He
said: 'Nabil's death will degrade ISIS' ability to meet the group's
objectives in Libya, including recruiting new ISIS members, establishing
bases in Libya and planning external attacks on the United States.
Mr
Cook said the strike was the first U.S. raid against an ISIS leader in
the country and demonstrates that the will 'go after ISIS leaders
wherever they operate'.
Another U.S. official said the strike by an F-15 fighter jet took place shortly after the Paris terrorist attacks began, but had been planned for some time.
Today's
report of Nabil's death is the second in several months. In July it was
reported that Nabil had been captured by a rival Islamist group, who
hanged him.
Reports
emerged of him being walked through the streets of Darnah then hanged
publicly to deter locals from abandoning local militant groups and
pledging allegiance to ISIS.
Scroll down for video
Strike: The U.S. attack is said to have taken place in Darnah, a coastal city under militant control
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Nabil
is thought to have been sent to Libya by ISIS leader Abu Bakr
Al-Baghdadi earlier in the summer to try to negotiate an alliance with
local terror cells.
Those
reports of his death conflict with those of today's bombing raid, but
information from Islamist-controlled areas often prove unreliable.
It came as Turkish military said they killed four suspected ISIS militants on the border with Syria.
State media said two cars containing ISIS soldiers drove towards an armoured military vehicle and opened fire.
The soldiers returned fire, killing four men inside one car. The other escaped.
The attack happened at an output near the border town of Oguzeli in Gaziantep province.
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