ANKARA — Washington said on Monday it could not confirm Turkey's claim to have launched a military operation that killed the leader of the Islamic State in Syria.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Sunday that his country killed the leader of the Islamist militant group in Syria, identifying him as Abu al-Hussein al-Husseini al-Qurashi. “This individual was neutralized in Syria yesterday by an operation carried out by our intelligence agency,” he said during a live interview, adding that the militant leader had been under surveillance by Turkish intelligence for a long time.
The United States, which is leading an international military coalition against the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq, has not confirmed Erdogan’s claim that the IS leader had been killed. “We are unable to confirm this. Furthermore, we have no information that would support this claim," a US official told Al-Monitor via email.
There was no confirmation from the militant group either.
