ISIS leader involved in murder of American citizen killed in Coalition airstrike

Yesterday the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq and Syria said that Abu al Umarayn, a senior Islamic State figure, has been killed in an airstrike.

Umarayn and several other Islamic State leaders were killed in recent bombings, according to a statement issued by Col. Sean Ryan, the spokesman for Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve (CJTF-OIR).

Col. Ryan claimed that Umarayn “had given indications of posing an imminent threat to Coalition Forces,” though it isn’t clear what that means. Umarayn was also “involved in the killing of American Citizen and former US Army Ranger, Peter Kassig,” as well as “several other prisoners.”

Kassig, who was serving as an aid worker in Syria, was kidnapped in 2013. In Nov. 2014, the Islamic State released a video documenting the beheadings of Syrian soldiers at the hands of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s henchmen. That same video concluded with a scene announcing Kassig’s death. At the very end of the video, the terrorist known as “Jihadi John” appeared standing over Kassig’s head.