ISIS senior leader, spokesman reported dead in Syria

The spokesman and chief strategist for Islamic State (ISIS) has been killed while overseeing operations in northern Syria, the group announced Tuesday. The ISIS-run Aamaq news agency said Abu Muhammed al-Adnani was killed in Aleppo, but did not give details about how he died. Al-Adnani, whose real name is Taha Sobhi Falaha, persistently called for attacks against the West in lengthy audio files he recorded. “If you can kill a disbelieving American or European—especially the spiteful and filthy French—or an Australian, or a Canadian, or any other disbeliever from the disbelievers waging war, … then rely upon Allah, and kill him in any manner or way however it may be,” al-Adnani said in 2014. Al-Adnani was a Syrian and believed to be in his late 30s. If confirmed, his death would be a blow to ISIS, which has had to retreat from the borders of its self-declared caliphate in recent months.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.