Islamic State (IS) militant leader Abu al-Hassan al-Hashemi al-Quraishi was killed in an operation carried out by the rebel Free Syrian Army in mid-October in Syria's Daraa province, the U.S. military said on Wednesday, another heavy blow to a group that once struck fear across the Middle East.
No U.S. military troops were involved in the operation, a U.S. military spokesperson said.
Earlier on Wednesday a spokesperson for the Islamic State, in an audio message posted on an affiliated Telegram channel, had said that leader Abu al-Hassan al-Hashemi al-Quraishi was killed in fighting.