WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — US-led coalition forces had killed senior ISIL leader Abu Bakr al-Turkmani in an airstrike on September 10 near Tal Afar, Iraq, US Department of Defense Press Secretary Peter Cook announced in a statement.
"Abu Bakr al-Turkmani was an [ISIL] administrative emir," Cook said in the statement. "He was a legacy al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) jihadist before joining and was a close associate to multiple ISIL senior leaders in the Mosul and Tal Afar, Iraq, area."
Cook claimed al-Turkmani’s death was a significant blow to Islamic State operations in that region of Iraq.
In a second statement, Cook also reported that an earlier air strike near Aleppo, Syria on July 5 had killed al-Qaeda explosives expert and French national, David Drugeon.
"Drugeon was a member of a network of veteran al-Qaeda operatives, sometimes called the Khorasan Group, who are plotting attacks against the United States, its allies and partners," Cook said in the statement. "As an explosive expert, he trained other extremists in Syria and sought to plan external attacks against Western targets."
Cook predicted that Drugeon's death would also degrade and disrupt ongoing external operations of al-Qaeda against the United States, its allies and partners.
