The US Defense Department says a Daesh (ISIL) leader with “direct” ties to the alleged mastermind of the Paris attacks was among 10 militants killed in Syria.
French national Sharaf al-Mouadan was killed in a US-led coalition airstrike on December 24th, Baghdad-based US military spokesman Colonel Steve Warren told reporters Tuesday.
“He was a Syrian-based ISIL member with a direct link to Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the Paris attacks cell leader," Warren said in a video call.
“We will continue to hunt ISIL leaders who are working to recruit, plan and inspire attacks against the United States of America and our allies,” he added.
Mouadan had been actively plotting further attacks against the West, Warren said, without giving additional details.
All 10 of the ISIL leaders killed and named on Tuesday were targeted with airstrikes, mostly using unmanned drones, Warren said.
Mouadan, 26, was the son of Morocco-born parents and the last of eight children. He was born in Belgium but was raised in the suburbs of Paris.
US-led airstrikes have been bombing Daesh positions in Iraq and Syria for more than a year.
According to Amnesty International, Daesh is in possession of a substantial arsenal of US-made weapons and equipment they have captured from the Iraqi military.
Editor's note: This article has been edited from the source material
