IS Leader al-Baghdadi Killed in US Military Operation in Syria, Says Trump

The fugitive leader of the Islamic State (IS) group has been killed in a US military operation in northwest Syria, President Donald Trump has said.

Speaking from the White House, Mr Trump said Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was killed in a US operation.

Baghdadi came to prominence in 2014, when he announced the creation of a “caliphate” in areas of Iraq and Syria.

IS carried out a number of atrocities that resulted in thousands of deaths.

The jihadist group imposed a brutal rule on almost eight million people in the areas under its control and was behind a number of attacks in cities around the world. The US declared the “caliphate” defeated earlier this year. (BBC)