Islamic State In Iraq And The Levant (ISIL) Fighters
IN PHOTO: Fighters from Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) hold their weapons as they stand on confiscated cigarettes before setting them on fire in the city of Raqqa, April 2, 2014. Reuters/Stringer

The U.S. is stepping up efforts to bring ISIS leaders to justice. The Obama administration has offered multi-million dollar rewards in exchange for crucial information on the group’s senior leadership.

The U.S. State Department has announced it will be giving millions as a reward for information on the whereabouts of ISIS leaders. The U.S. Secretary of State has authorised rewards of up to US$7 million (AU$8.7 million) for information on Abd al-Rahman Mustafa al-Qaduli. ISIS key leaders Abu Mohammed al-Adnani and Tarkhan Tayumurazovich Batirashvili are wanted with a reward of up to $5 million each. A reward of up to $3 million awaits those who have information on Tariq Bin-al-Tahar Bin al Falih al-Awni al Harzi.

According to the U.S. State Department, Qaduli is a top ISIS leader who originally joined an affiliate group of Al Qaeda in Iraq while Adnani serves as the official spokesperson for ISIS. The U.S. officials said Batirashvili is ISIS’ battlefield commander in northern Syria while Harzi is the leader in the border region between Syria and Turkey. As of 2013, Harzi has become the head of ISIS’ suicide bombers and supervises the group’s bomber facilitation pipeline.

The announcement of rewards comes after ISIS has claimed responsibility for the shooting in Texas. Security experts said the group’s claim was proof of its ability to capitalise on “lone-wolf attacks.”

ISIS has provided no evidence to support it was behind the shooting on May 3 at a Prophet Muhammad cartoon contest. Experts told NBC News that accepting responsibility for a terror incident was a cheap way for ISIS to achieve their goals.

“Lone wolves are a low-cost, low-resource way to carry out attacks, where the group can then retroactively decide if it wants to claim responsibility or not,” said J.M. Berger, who co-wrote the book “ISIS: The State of Terror” and a non-resident Brookings Institution fellow.

The Texas shooting marked the first time ISIS had claimed responsibility for an attack in the U.S. The White House has remained skeptical as a spokesman said it was too early to determine the group’s alleged direct involvement.

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