Senior Islamic State leader killed in strike

Nick Penzenstadler | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Top ISIS leader in Libya presumed dead after airstrike Abu Nabil was targeted by a U.S. airstrike outside the Libyan city of Darnah Friday. Video provided by Newsy

Pentagon officials said Saturday they killed a senior Islamic State leader in a U.S.-led airstrike in Libya.

Abu Nabil, also known as Wissam Najm Abd Zayd al Zubaydi, was an Iraqi national, longtime al Qaeda operative and senior leader in the terrorist organization ISIS.

Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said Nabil was believed to be the voice of the February’s Coptic Christian execution video. He was killed Friday.

“Nabil’s death will degrade ISIL’s ability to meet the group’s objectives in Libya, including recruiting new ISIL members, establishing bases in Libya and planning external attacks on the United States,” Cook said in a prepared statement.

In February, the masked fighter wielding a pistol told the camera on a Libyan beach that the Christians must convert to Islam. They are then shown being beheaded on the beach.

The announcement came on the heels of the Islamic State claiming responsibility for the attacks in Paris. However, the Pentagon officials say the operation was authorized and initiated prior to the terrorist attack in Paris.

Pentagon officials say they launched the airstrike in Libya on Friday. It also follows the high-profile hit of 'Jihadi John' believed to have been killed in a U.S. drone strike in Syria this week.