A Bangladeshi man, along with an Islamic State leader with ‘direct’ ties to the alleged mastermind of the Paris attacks, was among 10 of the group’s higher-ups killed in Syria and Iraq this month, the Pentagon said on Tuesday.

On 10 December, Siful Haque Sujan, who was educated in Britain and was allegedly an IS hacker, was killed near the IS stronghold of Raqa in Syria, said Baghdad-based US military spokesman Colonel Steve Warren.

The US military says such strikes are helping to weaken the jihadist group, which captured large parts of Iraq and Syria last year but has recently seen significant setbacks including this week’s loss of Ramadi in Iraq.

Colonel Steve Warren said French national Charaffe el Mouadan was killed in a US-led coalition strike on 24 December. He had been plotting further attacks against the West, Warren said.

After months of preparations, the Iraqi military declared the city of Ramadi liberated from the IS group on Monday after clinching a landmark victory against the jihadists.

Warren said that part of the success in Ramadi and other areas was due to the killing of IS leaders.

‘We’re striking at the head of this snake,’ he said, while cautioning that ‘it’s still got fangs.’