He told Reuters Islamic State likely delayed announcing his death to allow time to line up a successor. He decided to join Islamic State the following year and pledged his allegiance to Baghdadi. The State Department said Shishani was identified as Islamic State’s military commander in a video distributed by the group in 2014. Islamic State supporters exchanged notes of praise and condolence on social media, including pictures of the ginger-bearded fighter, and pledged to launch a fresh offensive in his honour. Reuters could not independently verify the statement from Amaq news agency, which Islamic State regularly uses to issue reports and which denied Shishani’s death after the Pentagon’s comments in March.

Source: Hindustan Times July 13, 2016 20:22 UTC