TheCable

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says Abu Omar al-Shishani, who Pentagon described as the Islamic State’s “minister of war”, is still alive but “badly wounded”.

The department of defense had claimed that al-Shishani was killed during an air strike near the Syrian town of al-Shaddadi.

But Rami Abdulrahman, Observatory director, contradicted the claim, saying he had been moved to Islamic State’s base of operations in Raqqa, still in Syria, for treatment.

“He did not die,” Abdulrahman said.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says it gathers its information from all sides in the conflict.

Born in 1986 in Georgia, which was then still part of the Soviet Union, the red-bearded Shishani had a reputation as a close military adviser to Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who relied heavily on Shishani.