Top Islamic State group commander Omar al-Shishani has been "clinically dead" for several days after a US air strike in northern Syria, a monitoring group said Sunday. "Shishani is not able to breathe on his own and is using machines. He has been clinically dead for several days," said Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Abdel Rahman said the notorious red-bearded commander, known as Omar the Chechen, was in a hospital in the northern province of Raqa, IS's bastion in Syria. A US official said on March 9 that Shishani "likely died" in a barrage of US-led air strikes on March 4 in north-eastern Syria. The official branded Shishani "the ISIL equivalent of the secretary of defence", using another acronym for the group.