DHAKA: The chief strategist of the Islamic State group, whose calls for attacks against the West during Ramadan led to mass bloodshed, has been killed in Syria.

IS-affiliated media say, reports the BBC.

The Amaq news agency said Abu Muhammad al-Adnani died in Aleppo province.

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.

Adnani - who was also the group’s spokesman - was “martyred while surveying the operations to repel the military campaigns against Aleppo”, Amaq said, without giving details about how he died.

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.

In a statement, Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook described Adnani as the “principal architect of IS’ external operations”, using an alternative name for the group.

BDST: 1114 HRS, AUG 31, 2016
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