SYRIA – The US military says it targeted a top commander of so-called Islamic State in an air strike in Syria last week. An initial assessment suggested Tarkhan Batirashvili, a Georgian known as Omar Shishani, was likely killed along with 12 other militants, officials said. The strike took place on Friday near the north-eastern town of Shaddadi, where Shishani had reportedly been sent to bolster local IS forces. There was no immediate confirmation of his death from IS or its supporters. The US had offered a $5m reward for Shishani, who it declared a specially designated global terrorist in September 2014.(BBC)…[+]