A senior leader and spokesperson of the Islamic State terror group was killed in an American airstrike in Syria on Tuesday, the militant outfit announced, according to Reuters. A United States defence official told the news agency that the American forces launched an attack on a vehicle travelling in Aleppo's al-Bab town because they had intelligence inputs that the group's spokesperson Abu Muhammad al-Adnani was travelling in it. However, the official did not confirm whether the Adnani was eliminated in the operation.

The agency report quotes a spokesperson for the terror outfit, who said Adnani, as head of external operations, was in charge of attacks overseas, including Europe. An American counterterrorism official said the latest development will affect the militants "in the area that increasingly concerns us as the group loses more and more of its caliphate and its financial base...and turns to mounting and inspiring more attacks in Europe, Southeast Asia and elsewhere".

The Amaq news agency said Adnani was "martyred while surveying the operations to repel the military campaigns against Aleppo". The Barack Obama government designated Adnani a "global terrorist" this year, and put a reward of $5 million on his head (approximately Rs 33 crore).