The chief strategist of the Islamic State group, Abu Muhammad al-Adnani, whose calls for attacks against the West during Ramadan led to mass bloodshed, has been killed in Syria, IS-affiliated media said.
Fighting has escalated around the city in recent weeks, with rebels breaking a siege by government forces and Syrian and Russian warplanes bombing rebel-held areas.
Adnani – who was also the group’s spokesman – was “martyred while surveying the operations to repel the military campaigns against Aleppo”, Amaq news agency said, without giving details about how he died.
The Pentagon said an air strike had targeted Adnani in the town of al Bab and the results were being assessed.
Reports of his death come as IS is suffering a series of military reverses in both Syria and Iraq.
