US Drone Strike Kills Senior IS Militant
A senior Islamic State fighter from Tunisia has been killed in a U.S. drone strike in Syria, the Pentagon said Thursday.
Tariq bin Tahar al-’Awni al-Harzi helped raise money for Islamic State, oversaw efforts to bring in foreign fighters and was dubbed the “emir of suicide bombers” by the U.S. State Department.
Pentagon spokesman Captain Jeff Davis said al-Harzi was killed in a U.S. drone strike June 16 in Shaddadi. Davis said al-Harzi’s death will hurt Islamic State’s ability to move foreign fighters in and out of the region.
The U.S. officially designated al-Harzi as a terrorist last fall. The U.S. Treasury Department imposed economic sanctions on al-Harzi and seven other individuals it said have helped finance or facilitate the movement of foreign fighters joining Islamic State and the Nusra Front.
Both groups have been targeted by coalition strikes in Syria.