Who Is Abu Mohammad al-Adnani? ISIS Spokesman Reportedly Killed In Syria

The head spokesman for the Islamic State group was reported dead Tuesday in Syria, according to the SITE Intelligence Group. Abu Mohammad al-Adnani, who Express called "second in command" to ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, was killed in Aleppo, according to Business Insider.

ISIS-linked media outlets reported Tuesday that he'd been martyred, but the Middle East Eye noted there was little confirmed information as to how or when the spokesman was killed. As they waited for details, terrorism experts offered instant analysis of his death:

The Counter Extremism Project lists Adnani as the leader of ISIS's Emni group, a unit that orchestrates attacks outside of the Middle East. The U.S. State Department named him a terrorist in 2014 and later described him as "the main conduit for the dissemination of ISIL messages."

"Adnani is much more than just the mouthpiece of this group," Thomas Joscelyn, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told the New York Times earlier this month. "He is heavily involved in external operations. He is sort of the administrative ‘yea’ or ‘nay’ at the top of the pyramid."

Adnani was wounded in January in an airstrike in Iraq. His wounds led to him losing "a large amount of blood," Reuters reported, citing a military statement.

Adnani, a Syrian, was behind the 2014 message that instructed ISIS supporters to kill disbelievers, particularly those from nations aligned with the U.S.-led coalition against the extremist group, according to the Independent.

"Adnani has been the main voice behind issuing ISIS threats to the West," counterterrorism expert Laith al-Khouri told NBC News last year. "He is so admired and glorified by jihadists worldwide that he stands as a primary point of recruitment."

Officials with the coalition have not released a statement about Adnani's alleged death, CNN reported.