Prominent German ISIL propagandist killed in Syria

He was labeled a “specially designated global terrorist” earlier this year by the State Department, which said Cuspert was “emblematic of the type of foreign recruit” ISIS seeks and had been a “willing pitchman” for the organization’s “atrocities”.

In 2011, Cuspert, then living and performing under the name Abu Malik, sent a message of support and encouragement to a fellow German Muslim, Kosovo immigrant Arid Uka, on Uka’s Facebook wall, just a few hours before Uka shot and killed two American soldiers at the Frankfurt Airport, according to the Washington Post.

“I can confirm that an Oct. 16 airstrike near Raqqah killed Denis Cuspert”, Elissa Smith, a Department of Defense spokeswoman, said in an email to the Times today, October 30.

He went by the name Abu Talha al-Almani after ditching his musical roots to join the terrorist group.

The rapper reportedly joined ISIS in 2012 and has appeared in numerous videos circulated by pro-ISIS loyalists on the social media. He apparently held a severed head in one video.

He also released a propaganda video where he calls on jihadist sleeper cells in Europe to carry out terrorist attacks, in Britain, Germany and France, rapping “We want your blood”. According to CNN, missiles from US led coalition forces hit a pickup truck carrying al-Almani (born Denis Cuspert) on October 16. Shortly afterwards he was placed on a terror watchlist by the United Nations al-Qaeda Sanctions Committee.

Cuspert was previously reported to have been killed in October, 2014, in an attack by rival jihadist group Jabhat Al Nusra, however these reports were later discredited when other foreign fighters said it was another Isis militant with the same jihadist moniker who had been killed, reported Die Welt.