- The Washington Times - Thursday, July 2, 2015

An airstrike in Syria killed a senior Islamic State leader earlier this month, the Pentagon announced Thursday.

Tariq bin Tahar al-’Awni al-Harzi, who helped move people and supplies into Iraq and Syria for the Islamic State, also known as ISIL, was killed June 16 by a coalition airstrike in Shaddadi, Syria.

“As an ISIL member, he worked to raise funds and recruit and facilitate the travel of fighters for the terrorist organization,” Capt. Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman, said in a statement. “Al-Harzi also worked to provide materiel to ISIL by procuring and shipping weapons from Libya to Syria for ISIL.”

His death will make it more difficult to recruit fighters and move equipment into Iraq and Syria, Capt. Davis said.

Al-Harzi’s brother, Ali Awni al-Harzi, was also an Islamic State operative and was involved in the 2011 attack on the U.S. embassy in Benghazi, Libya. He was killed June 15 in a coalition airstrike, the Pentagon previously announced.

• Jacqueline Klimas can be reached at jklimas@washingtontimes.com.

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