A joint operation by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and U.S. coalition forces killed a senior Islamic State official in eastern Syria, Kurdish fighters said.

Ibrahim Al-Ali, who was a leader in eastern Syria and was also known as Abu Mujahid, was killed in a targetted raid on Tuesday, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said on Thursday.

The SDF said he died during the operation in the centre of the city of Raqqa.

It added that several items of military equipment were confiscated during the operation.

A Kurdish source said Mr Mujahid was responsible for recruiting Islamic State’s fighters inside eastern Syria and from neighbouring Iraq.

“The killing of this guy is important as he was in charge of the eastern region, which includes al-Hassakeh, Raqqa and Deir al-Zour.

“These are the places where Islamic State operations had increased in the past few months,” Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian observatory for human rights said.

U. S. forces were deployed to Syria in 2015 to assist the Syrian Kurds and their allies in the fight against Islamic State.

Mr Mujahid’s killing came two weeks after the terror group confirmed the death of their leader, Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurashi.

Abu Hafs al-Hashimi al-Quraishi was named the successor.

(dpa/NAN)