An armed US drone attacked and killed a key Islamic State leader who was in-charge of moving foreign fighters as well as weapons from Libya to Syria, the Pentagon has announced.
The slain ISIS leader was identified as Tahar al-'Awni al-Harzi. He was reportedly killed on June 16 in Shaddadi, Syria. His brother Ali was also killed in an earlier drone strike in Mosul, Iraq.
According to Pentagon spokesperson Capt. Jeff Davis, Al-Harzi was also the ISIS coordinator behind the recent suicide bombings in Tunisia, Fox News reported.
The death of Al-Harzi is expected to affect the ability of the jihadist group in moving foreign fighters and supplies in and out of the region, ABC News reported.
"His death will impact ISIL's ability to integrate foreign terrorist fighters into the Syrian and Iraqi fight as well as to move people and equipment across the border between Syria and Iraq," said the Pentagon spokesperson.
"As an ISIL member, he worked to raise funds and recruit and facilitate the travel of fighters for the terrorist organisation. Al-Harzi also worked to provide materiel to ISIL by procuring and shipping weapons from Libya to Syria for ISIL," he said.
"Additionally, al-Harzi also facilitated the use of suicide and vehicle-borne improvised explosive device attacks in Iraq."
The extremist leader was not only a senior ISIS chief but also a person of interest, having been linked to the deadly attack on the US consulate in Benghazi, Libya, in September 2012 that claimed the lives of four Americans, including Ambassador Chris Stevens.
His huge part in ISIS made him an important target of US authorities, with the State Department's Rewards for Justice Program putting out a $3-million reward for information that would lead to his death or capture.
