This story originally published May 2.
Islamic State-linked hackers have threatened the U.S. military once again by releasing photographs and addresses of drone pilots linked to the takedown of their members.
Over the weekend, hackers part of with the "Islamic State Hacking Division" over the weekend published a list of about 70 names they say are U.S. military personnel tied to the death of their once-famed leader, Junaid Hussain, also known as Abu Hussain al-Britani.
It is unclear if the names, which The list of names featured addresses and photos of some prominent U.S. military leaders, like such as the commander of the coalition against ISIS in Syria and Iraq, Army Lt. Gen. Sean MacFarland. , It is unclear if the names were have been taken down by outside sources.
"We are aware that ISIL and other terrorist organizations have periodically purported to release personal information on US service members and military members of our Coalition partners involved in operations against ISIL," the Defense Department said in a statement.
"We take proactive measures to protect our service members and their families and keep them apprised of changes to the security situation. We will not comment on the authenticity of the information in question and this will have no effect on operations against ISIL."
The U.S. Air Force did not have an additional comment.
Hussain was killed in a drone strike in August. He
had
was previously
been
responsible for exposing the personal information of hundreds of U.S. military and government personnel online.
"Kill them wherever they are, knock on their doors and behead them, stab them, shoot them in the face or bomb them," the hackers posted, according to multiple reports.
The names leaked were also in vindication for other ISIS members killed in drone strikes, including Mohammed Emwazi, also known as Jihadi John.
In November, Operation Inherent Resolve spokesman Army Col. Steve Warren said that the Pentagon was "reasonably certain" that a drone strike in Syria
had
killed Emwazi, who was linked to beheading videos.
"You press buttons thousands of miles away in your feeble attempt to fight us. A nation of cowards that holds no bravery as you resort to sending your remote-controlled unmanned Reaper and Predator drones to attack us from the skies. So this is for you, America," the ISIS hackers continued.
Nearly one in five of the Air Force's remotely piloted aircraft missions against the Islamic State involves strikes against the militants, according to Air Forces Central Command.
MQ-1 Predators and MQ-9 Reapers
,
armed with Hellfire missiles
,
have flown a third of the Air Force's sorties against Islamic State militants since the start of Operation Inherent Resolve, providing intelligence, reconnaissance and surveillance. The unmanned aircraft have hit ISIS targets on 17 percent of those sorties, according to AFCENT statistics provided to Air Force Times in March.
Remotely piloted aircraft continue to anchor the 24/7 fight against the extremist group.
The group warned they will
next week
divulge more intelligence next week "as we slowly and secretly infiltrate England and the USA online and off."
Oriana Pawlyk covers deployments, cyber, Guard/Reserve, uniforms, physical training, crime and operations in the Middle East and Europe for Air Force Times. She was the Early Bird Brief editor in 2015. Email her at opawlyk@airforcetimes.com.
