WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — A top hacker for the Islamic State (ISIL) was killed in a US military airstrike earlier in the week, US Central Command (CENTCOM) confirmed on Friday.
"We can confirm that Junaid Hussain, an ISIS [ISIL] operative was killed in a US military airstrike on August 24 in Raqqa, Syria," CENTCOM spokesman Air Force Colonel Pat Ryder was quoted in the Hill as saying.
Ryder said the 21-year-old British hacker was responsible for “releasing personally identifying information” of about 1,300 US military and government employees and “sought to direct violence against US service members and government employees.”
Hussain also allegedly played a role in recruiting ISIL sympathizers from the West to carry out lone wolf attacks, Ryder said.
"Needless to say, we have taken a significant threat off the battlefield and have made it very clear that in terms of ISIL leadership, we are going to target them where we can just as we are targeting their other communications nodes, logistics nodes, and other military equipment," the CENTCOM official said.
The US-led campaign against the Islamic State has carried out more than 6,400 airstrikes against the terrorist group since August 2014.
The ISIL associated “Cyber Caliphate” has carried out a number of electronic attacks and is responsible for spreading propaganda. In January 2014, the ISIL electronic unit hacked CENTCOM’s Twitter and YouTube accounts and published information about US military personnel and government officials.
