ISIS Leaders Connected to Paris Attacks Killed in Airstrikes

A US official said coalition airstrikes in Iraq and Syria have killed 10 ISIS leaders over the past month, including two militants with links to the terrorists behind the November attacks in Paris.

Abdelhamid Abaaoud, who was killed in a police raid in the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis last month, had direct contacts, the coalition says, with al Mouadan before the attacks took place, which more than 120 people.

Warren identified that man as Abdul Qader Hakim, who he said was “a forgery specialist and had links to the Paris attacks network”.

“As long as IS external attack planners are operating, the USA military will hunt them and kill them”, Warren said, using an alternative acronym for the terrorist group. “We haven’t severed the head of the snake yet, and it’s still got fangs”. Some Ramadi neighborhoods remain in Islamic State control, but Warren said most of the fighters were killed or ran away.

Eliminating an external operations figure in the al-Qaida network was a “big deal”, according to the USA official, because only a few individuals have the authority to plan and launch attacks against Western targets.

Col Warren added: “Part of those successes is attributable to the fact that the organization is losing its leadership”.

ISIS has claimed responsibility for the Paris attacks.

Meanwhile in Belgium, two people have been arrested on suspicion of planning attacks in Brussels during the holidays, the federal prosecutor’s office said on Tuesday. We have to be clear about that.

Smoke rises from Islamic State positions following a U.S.-led coalition airstrike as Iraqi Security forces advance their position in downtown Ramadi, 70 miles (115 kilometers) west of Baghdad, Iraq, Friday, Dec. 25, 2015.

The mayor’s remarks helped to flesh out a picture of who was killed in the U.S.-led strikes and their links to the Paris attacks.

■ Abu Anas, an Islamic State cell facilitator, killed December 8 near Kirkuk, Iraq. “His death removes an important facilitator with many connections in Europe”, Warren said. Sujan supported ISIS’s hacking efforts, anti-surveillance technology, and weapons development.

He was killed near Raqqa, Syria, ISIL’s self-proclaimed capital.

■ Mithaq Najim, Islamic State deputy emir in Kirkuk province, killed December 9 near Hawijah, Iraq.

After months of preparations, the Iraqi military declared the city of Ramadi liberated from the IS group on Monday after clinching a landmark victory against the jihadists.