U.S. officials reported that Batirashvili died from injuries several days after being the target of a 4 March 2016 U.S. airstrike, near the Al-Shaddadah district in Northern Syria, however, the Islamic State denied these claims and its Amaq News Agency confirmed that Shishani was killed in July 2016 during fighting in the Iraqi city of Shirqat, south of Mosul, Iraq.