Founder of Daesh group’s propaganda agency killed in eastern Syria: Report

In this file photo released by the US Air Force, fighter jets fly over northern Iraq to carry out airstrikes in Syria.

The founder of the Daesh group’s propaganda agency and his daughter have been killed in a US aerial attack in eastern Syria, media reports say.   

They quoted unnamed sources as saying Thursday that Baraa Kadek, the founder of the Daesh-affiliated Amaq news agency, was killed in the airstrike that hit his home last week in the town of Mayadeen in Dayr al-Zawr province. 

Kadek’s brother, Hozaifa, has posted the announcement of his death on Facebook, they added.

 A former comrade of Kadek said he and his daughter and wife were wounded in the aerial raid last Friday and that he and his daughter died of their wounds Wednesday. The top militant’s wife remains in critical condition, the source added.  

Last week, the US military said it had carried out a series of airstrikes on May 25 and 26, targeting militant media infrastructure and "propaganda facilities".

Local sources earlier said US airstrikes in the troubled region had killed at least 35 civilians, including family members of Daesh.  

Daesh militants or the US have yet to comment on the death of Kadek, who had maintained close ties with the group's ringleader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. 

This file photo shows Takfiri Daesh terrorists in an unknown location.

 Mayadeen has become a refuge for Daesh leaders as the Takfiri group is coming under attack in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul and in the militant-riddled Syrian city of Raqqah.  

Daesh’s media operations have reportedly moved to Mayadeen as Syrian Kurds and their American backers close in on Raqqah.  

Originally from Aleppo province, Kadek joined Daesh in 2013 and later moved on to found the group's flagship media arm. In recent years, the militants have used Amaq to post news, videos and claims of their attacks worldwide.

The US launched airstrikes in August 2014. Since then, it has been conducting attacks against what it claims Daesh positions inside Syria without any authorization from Damascus or a UN mandate.  

The US and its allies have repeatedly been accused of targeting and killing civilians, while failing to fulfill their pronounced goal of destroying Daesh.

Syria has been fighting different foreign-sponsored militant and terrorist groups since March 2011. UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura estimated last August that more than 400,000 people had been killed in the crisis until then.