Turkish forces have killed the suspected leader of the Islamic State (IS) group in Syria, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has announced.
Abu Hussein al-Qurayshi is said to have taken over the group after his predecessor was killed last autumn.
Mr. Erdogan told broadcaster TRT Turk the IS leader was “neutralised” in a Turkish MIT intelligence agency operation on Saturday.
IS has so far made no comment on the reported operation.
The BBC has been unable to independently verify President Erdogan’s claim.
The MIT intelligence agency had been following Qurayshi for a “long time”, Mr Erdogan said.
“We will continue our struggle with terrorist organisations without any discrimination,” he added, providing no further details.
Syrian sources quoted by Reuters news agency said the operation took place in the northern town of Jandaris, close to the Turkish border.
Last November, the jihadist group announced the death of its leader, Abu al-Hassan al-Hashemi al-Qurayshi. The US said he was killed in an operation by the rebel Free Syrian Army in south-west Syria in mid-October 2022.
He took over the group after previous leader Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi set off a blast killing himself and his family as US special forces rounded on his hideout after a gunfight in February 2022.
Source: bbc.com
