Abu Omar al-Shishani, a top Islamic State leader, may have been killed in a coalition airstrike near a strategic town in Syria last week, according to a Pentagon official.

The Pentagon was still confirming Shishani’s death, said the defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity because the announcement had not been made public. The official said that another 12 Islamic State fighters had also been killed in the strike, which hit the town of Shadadi.

A Georgian by birth known also as “Omar the Chechen,” Shishani fought in the Georgian armed forces during the country’s short war in 2008 against the Russians. After serving out his time in his home country, Shishani joined a number of rebel brigades fighting in Syria following the start of the country’s civil war in 2012. Sometime around 2012 or 2013, Shishani joined the Islamic State. In Sept. 2014, Shishani was added to the U.S. Treasury Department’s list of specially designated global terrorists.

According to a post in the Long War Journal following Treasury’s announcement, Shishani “has held a number of top military positions within” the Islamic State.

(c) 2016, The Washington Post · Thomas Gibbons-Neff