The world met Daesh fighter Abu Bilal al-Tunisi when he was seen pulling Jordanian pilot Muath Kasasbeh from a lake in eastern Syria last December. Now he's purportedly been killed in an airstrike, but whose warplanes dropped the bomb is still a hot debate.
Al-Tunisi was reportedly hit while driving with two other fighters in the group's de facto capital of Raqqa. Arabic news reported Friday the bombing came from the US-led coalition, while Damascus claims a Syrian warplane carried out the strike. So far neither has been confirmed.
The Jordanian pilot was captured by Daesh last year after his plane went down during an bombing raid over Raqqa, sparking a saga that ended with his brutal execution video in February. The photo of al-Tunisi marked the beginning, showing a disoriented Kasasbeh being dragged out of the water by smiling militants.
The Tunisian fighter came to symbolize the Hashemite Kingdom's struggle, a point of which the Syrian government is taking full advantage. On Friday, the country's defense ministry released a statement to the "brothers" in Jordan taking credit for the strike, while the Syrian Arab Army's Facebook page said Syrian intelligence personnel on the ground confirmed the killing.
Meanwhile, the debate has turned social media into a sparring ground for competing statements. See the photo of al-Tunisi and the responses below.
BREAKING RUSSIAN Airstrikes in #Syria kill ABU BILAL AL TUNSI an #ISIL commander responsible for burning #Jordanian pilot Al Kasasbeh alive
— Egypt Built (@HosamDakhakhni) October 2, 2015SyAAF airstrike kills ISIS terrorist who captured Jordan's pilot Kasasbeh #Syria https://t.co/NLpn6faGLC pic.twitter.com/iCdpIk0Lxf
— the Lemniscat (@theLemniscat) October 2, 2015To everybody all over the world, and to the people of Jordan in particular:This terrorist, the head of the Islamic...
Posted by Syrian Arab Army on Thursday, October 1, 2015
