Overview
Wael Adel Salman al-Fayad was a senior member of ISIS and the group’s minister of information. In that role, Fayad reportedly oversaw the production of ISIS’s propaganda videos depicting executions and torture.“Statement from Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook on Airstrike Against ISIL Senior Leader,” U.S. Department of Defense, September 16, 2016, http://www.defense.gov/News/News-Releases/News-Release-View/Article/946983/statement-from-pentagon-press-secretary-peter-cook-on-airstrike-against-isil-se. He also helped to lead the group’s online and social media operations, according to Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently, a group that aims to expose human rights abuses in Syria.الرقة تذبح بصمت, Twitter post, September 16, 2016, 6:09 a.m., https://twitter.com/Raqqa_SL/status/776769990087368704. According to the U.S. government, Fayad was also a member of ISIS’s Shura Council,“Statement from Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook on Airstrike Against ISIL Senior Leader,” U.S. Department of Defense, September 16, 2016, http://www.defense.gov/News/News-Releases/News-Release-View/Article/946983/statement-from-pentagon-press-secretary-peter-cook-on-airstrike-against-isil-se. the group’s leadership body that ensures that local governors adhere to ISIS’s version of sharia (Islamic law).Nick Thompson and Atika Shubert, “The anatomy of ISIS: How the ‘Islamic State’ is run, from oil to beheadings,” CNN, January 14, 2015, http://www.cnn.com/2014/09/18/world/meast/isis-syria-iraq-hierarchy/.
According to Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently, Fayad had been chosen to select the replacement for Abu Muhammad al-Adnani,الرقة تذبح بصمت, Twitter post, September 16, 2016, 6:39 a.m., https://twitter.com/Raqqa_SL/status/776777445999534080. ISIS’s spokesman and chief of external operations who died in a September 30, 2016, U.S. airstrike.“Statement from Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook on Strike Against ISIL Senior Leader,” Department of Defense, September 12, 2016, http://www.defense.gov/News/News-Releases/News-Release-View/Article/941733/statement-from-pentagon-press-secretary-peter-cook-on-strike-against-isil-senio. According to the U.S. Department of Defense, Fayad had been Adnani’s “close associate.”“Statement from Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook on Airstrike Against ISIL Senior Leader,” U.S. Department of Defense, September 16, 2016, http://www.defense.gov/News/News-Releases/News-Release-View/Article/946983/statement-from-pentagon-press-secretary-peter-cook-on-airstrike-against-isil-se.
Fayad was targeted and killed in a September 7, 2016, U.S. airstrike.“Statement from Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook on Airstrike Against ISIL Senior Leader,” U.S. Department of Defense, September 16, 2016, http://www.defense.gov/News/News-Releases/News-Release-View/Article/946983/statement-from-pentagon-press-secretary-peter-cook-on-airstrike-against-isil-se. ISIS confirmed his death on October 10, 2016.“Islamic State confirms death of propaganda chief: statement,” Reuters, October 10, 2016, http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-islamic-state-idUSKCN12A2BU?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews.
Associated Groups
- Extremist entity
- ISIS
- Read Threat Report
- Type(s) of Organization:
- Insurgent, territory-controlling, religious, terrorist, violent
- Ideologies and Affiliations:
- Islamist, jihadist, pan-Islamist, Salafist, takfiri
- Position(s):
- Former minister of information - deceased
ISIS is a violent jihadist group based in Iraq and Syria. The group has declared wilayas (provinces) in Egypt, Libya, Algeria, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the North Caucasus. ISIS has also waged attacks in Turkey, Lebanon, France, Belgium, Iraq, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia, Tunisia, and Kuwait.
Daily Dose
Extremists: Their Words. Their Actions.
In Their Own Words:
We reiterate once again that the brigades will directly target US bases across the region in case the US enemy commits a folly and decides to strike our resistance fighters and their camps [in Iraq].
Mar. 2023