Official says U.S. air strike kills IS operative in Iraq
| Publisher | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |
| Publication Date | 23 June 2015 |
| Cite as | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Official says U.S. air strike kills IS operative in Iraq, 23 June 2015, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/55b5f40ce.html [accessed 2 June 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
June 23, 2015
The Pentagon says a U.S. air strike in northern Iraq has killed an Islamic State operative who was a person of interest in the 2012 Benghazi attack.
Pentagon spokesman Colonel Steve Warren said on June 22 that Ali Awni al-Harzi of Tunisia was killed in Mosul on June 15.
The U.S. Treasury and the State Department had designated him as a terrorist operating for radical groups.
Warren said Harzi's death degrades Islamic State's "ability to integrate North African jihadists into the Syrian and Iraqi fight and removes a jihadist with long ties to international terrorism."
Harzi was considered a person of interest in the militant attack on the U.S. mission in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi on September 11, 2012, that killed the American ambassador and three other Americans.
The U.S. State Department had described Harzi as a "high-profile" member of a radical group in Tunisia who helped recruit volunteers to fight in Syria.
Based on reporting by AFP and dpa
Link to original story on RFE/RL website
