Erdogan says Turkish forces killed IS chief in Syria

By SUZAN FRASER
Associated Press

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says Turkish forces have killed the leader of the Islamic State group during an operation in Syria. Erdogan told TRT Turk television late Sunday that the IS leader, code-named Abu Hussein al-Qurayshi, had been killed in a strike the previous day after a lengthy pursuit by the Turkish intelligence agency, MIT. He did not provide further details or say where the operation occurred. Al-Qurayshi was named leader of the militant group after its previous chief was killed in October, as IS had lost the territory it once held in Iraq and Syria. He had been been trying to rise again, with sleeper cells carrying out deadly attacks in both countries.