Senior ISIS leader Bilal al-Sudani killed in US raid in Somalia

Tags: International News

Bilal al-Sudani, a prominent regional leader of the Islamic State group, was killed on January 25 in a US military raid in Somalia ordered by President Joe Biden.

An overview of the news

• The US military operation has also killed 10 members of the terrorist group.

• The US President authorised the strike earlier this week after consulting with top defence, intelligence and security officials.

• Bilal al-Sudani had been on the radar of US intelligence officials for the past several years.

• He played a key role in providing financial support to IS operations in Africa as well as ISIS-K, a terrorist organisation operating in Afghanistan.

About Islamic State

• ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria), also known as ISIL (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant).

• It is an Islamist militant jihadist group that follows Salafi jihadist doctrine based on the Sunni branch of Islam.

• It was founded in 1999 by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and gained global prominence in 2014.

• It soon took control of large parts of Iraq and Syria, raised its flag and imposed strict Islamic rule.

• It strictly enforces Sharia or Islamic law.