Doubts prevail over seniority of IS member killed by US in Syria ground raid

Shortly after the United States claimed that it had killed Islamic State's (IS) chief financial officer during a rare ground raid launched by its forces in eastern Syria, doubts are being raised over the seniority of the terrorist who was killed in the assault.

According to The Giardian, Abu Sayyaf had not been on lists of top-line Isis leaders and he didn't even have a bounty put on his head for his death or capture, unlike 10 other jihadists who form the core of the terror outfit's leadership.

Sayyaf's lack of profile caused Iraqi officials and western diplomats in the region to speculate that the target of the raid may have been a more senior figure.

A Baghdad-based specialist on Isis, Hisham al-Hashimi, said that the slain terrorist was very close to Abu Mohammed al-Adnani, the chief spokesman of the group. He added that they were together often.

A statement released by the U.S. Department of Defense said that Sayyaf was the group's "chief financial officer" and looked after oil and gas operations, which form an important source of revenue for the IS.

Washington portrayed the offensive as a success, but disclosed nothing more about the value of its apparent target.