President Donald Trump said on Tuesday the U.S. military had killed the person who likely would have succeeded Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi as the leader of Islamic State.
‘Just confirmed that Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s number one replacement has been terminated by American troops,’ Trump said on Twitter.
‘Most likely would have taken the top spot.’
Trump did not specify who he was referring to.
The U.S. on Monday confirmed the killing of Abu al-Hassan al-Muhajir – the Islamic State spokesman and a high-ranking figure within the jihadi group.
Muhajir was killed in a separate operation in northern Syria in a joint raid between Kurdish-led and U.S. forces.
It came after Trump on Sunday announced the killing of Baghdadi by U.S. special operations forces in northwestern Syria.