The leader of Islamic State was killed during a raid by US special forces in Syria, Joe Biden has said.
The US president said: “Thanks to the skill and bravery of our Armed Forces, we have taken off the battlefield Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi - the leader of ISIS.”
Al-Qurayshi took over as head of the militant group on October 31, 2019, just days after leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi died during a US raid in the same area.
A US official said he died as al-Baghdadi did, by exploding a bomb that killed himself and members of his family, including women and children, as US forces approached.
Earlier the Pentagon said special forces had hunted down high-ranking jihadists in an airborne raid, killing 13 people in a “successful” operation.
US special forces landed in helicopters and assaulted a house in a rebel-held corner of Syria, clashing for two hours with gunmen, witnesses said.
Residents described continuous gunfire and explosions that rocked the town of Atmeh near the Turkish border, an area dotted with camps for internally displaced people from Syria's civil war.
First responders reported that those killed included six children and four women.
Mr Biden said in a statement that he ordered the raid to "protect the American people and our allies, and make the world a safer place."
There had been no American casualties, he said.
Al-Qurayshi was also known as Amir Muhammad Sa’id Abdal-Rahman al-Mawla.
The US president, along with Vice President Kamala Harris and senior national security aides monitored a live-feed of the operation from the White House Situation Room according to an official. The president was kept abreast of the commandos' long flight out of Syria by National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan overnight.
The operation has been hailed as a military success for the United States at an important time after setbacks elsewhere - including the chaotic Afghanistan withdrawal - had led allies and opponents to conclude U.S. power globally was weakening.
