Syrian Kurdish Forces Say They Killed Close al-Baghdadi Aide; Trump Says It Was Done by U.S.
Syrian Kurdish forces say that Abu Hassan al-Muhajir, Baghdadi's right-hand man and ISIS spokesman, was killed late on Sunday near Jarablus, a town in northwestern Syria
The commander of Syria's Kurdish forces says his group's intelligence unit carried out a joint operation with U.S. troops in northern Syria hours, after the killing of Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, targeting his right-hand man and ISIS spokesman.
The commander, Mazloum Abdi, says that Abu Hassan al-Muhajir was killed late on Sunday near Jarablus, a town in northwestern Syria.
A senior State Department official confirmed al-Muhajir was killed in separate U.S. operation without mentioning Kurdish forces.
On Tuesday, U.S. President Donald Trump tweeted: "Just confirmed that Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi's number one replacement has been terminated by American troops. Most likely would have taken the top spot."
However, the tweet did not specify who he was referring to.
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Al-Muhajir's death would be another blow to the extremists.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also reported al-Muhajir's death, saying he was travelling in a convoy made up of an oil tanker and a sedan.
The report came hours after President Donald Trump announced al-Baghdadi was killed in a U.S. special forces operation in Syria's northwestern Idlib province.