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 “neutralized” in a Turkish MIT intelligence agency operation on Saturday.
IS has so far made no comment on the reported operation.
The MIT intelligence agency had been following Qurayshi for a “long time”, Erdogan said.
Syrian sources quoted by Reuters news agency said the operation took place in the northern town of Jandaris, close to the Turkish border.
