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Charaffe al Mouadan, ISIS Figure Linked to Paris Ringleader Abaaoud, Killed in Syria: U.S.

A senior ISIS leader in Syria linked to Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the top suspect behind the Paris massacre, has been killed, U.S. military commanders said Tuesday.
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Airstrikes have killed 10 ISIS leaders this month — including one in Syria with direct ties to the Paris attacks mastermind, a Pentagon spokesman said Tuesday.

Col. Steve Warren told reporters that Charaffe al Mouadan had a direct link to Abdelhamid Abaaoud and was actively planning attacks against the West before he was killed in a Dec. 24 coalition airstrike on Syria.

"We will hunt ISIL leaders working to inspire attacks against U.S. and our allies," Warren said on his official Twitter account.

He said that nine other ISIS leaders were killed in airstrikes in December.

"We are striking at the head of the snake," Warren told a press briefing. "We haven’t severed the head of the snake, and it’s still got fangs."

Related: Abdelhamid Abaaoud's Photos Offer Glimpse of ISIS Life

Moroccan-born Abaaoud, 27, was killed in a police raid following the Nov. 13 Paris attacks.

Officials have described him as the ringleader of the attacks, which left 130 dead, and believe Abaaoud was involved in four of six plots foiled by French intelligence since the spring.

Among the other alleged leaders reportedly killed this month were the ISIS emir of Kirkuk Province in Iraq, an ISIS deputy financial emir, an ISIS commander and executioner and a forgery specialist who had links to the Paris attack network.