Abu Mohammad al-Adnani

Abu Muhammad al-Adnani
أَبُو مُحَمَّدٍ ٱلْعَدْنَانِيُّ
Photo featured in IS propaganda, also used by U.S. State Department, January 2012.[1][2]
Born	Taha Sobhi Falaha 1977 (1977)[2][3] Binnish, Idlib Governorate, Syria
Died	30 August 2016(2016-08-30) (aged 38–39) Near al-Bab, Aleppo Governorate, Syria
Cause of death	Air strike
Nationality	Syrian
Occupation	Official spokesman of the Islamic State
Successor	Abul-Hasan al-Muhajir
Movement	Islamic State
Criminal charge(s)	Designated a terrorist by the United Nations Security Council and the US State Department[4][5]

Taha Sobhi Falaha (Arabic: طٰهٰ صُبْحِيِّ فَلَاحَةٍ, romanized: Ṭāhā Ṣobḥī Falāḥa; 1977 – 30 August 2016), known by his nom de guerre Abu Muhammad al-Adnani al-Shami (Arabic: أَبُو مُحَمَّدٍ ٱلْعَدْنَانِيُّ ٱلشَّامِيُّ, romanized: ʾAbū Muḥammad al-ʿAdnānī aš-Šāmī), was the official spokesperson and a senior leader of the Islamic State.^[6][7] He was described as the chief of its external operations. He was the second most senior leader of the Islamic State after its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.^[4] Media reports in August 2016 suggested he was in charge of a special unit, known as the Emni, that was established by IS in 2014 with the double objective of internal policing and executing operations outside IS territory.^[8][9]

On 5 May 2015, the U.S. State Department Rewards for Justice Program announced a reward up to US$5 million for information leading to his capture.^[2][10]

On 30 August 2016, the Islamic State announced al-Adnani had been killed in Aleppo Province. A number of fighting forces claimed responsibility for al-Adnani's death. On 12 September 2016, the U.S. Department of Defense announced that a U.S. coalition airstrike had killed al-Adnani,^[11] even though the Russian Federation had already claimed that Adnani had been killed in a Russian airstrike involving an Su-34 bomber.^[12][13]