The Islamic State on Thursday confirmed the death of its founder and leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and announced a successor. The propaganda arm of ISIS also confirmed the death of another top ISIS official, its former spokesman.

In an audio message released through its central media operation, the group’s new spokesman announced that Baghdadi’s successor is a man named Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Quraishi. He is a figure largely unknown outside of ISIS circles and is hailed in the message as “emir of the believers” and “caliph” of the group’s alleged caliphate.

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The Syrian army on Wednesday fought intense battles with the Turkish army and Turkey-backed Syrian rebels in the north of country amid the ongoing Turkish assault, state news agency SANA reported.

The Syrian army and the Turkish forces clashed in the Tal al-Ward area in the south of the city of Ras al-Ayn in the countryside of Hasakah Province in northeastern Syria, said SANA.

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The Islamic State (ISIS) group’s spokesman was killed Sunday in northern Syria, a top Kurdish official said, hours after the jihadists’ leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was announced dead.

The official with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces – who asked not to be named because he is not authorized to speak on the issue – said ISIS spokesman Abu Hassan al-Muhajir had been killed, after SDF chief Mazloum Kobani Abdi said he had been “targeted” in a fresh raid.

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Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of the militant group Isis, was killed on Saturday in a US special forces raid in north-western Syria, President Donald Trump announced from the White House on Sunday.

Trump announced the death Sunday, after hinting at the news on Twitter on Saturday night, tweeting, “Something very big has just happened!”

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Russian, Syrian security forces aim to push Kurdish fighters back from the border as part of deal reached with Turkey.

Russian military police deployed on the streets of Syria’s northeast border town of Kobane on Thursday under a deal with Turkey to drive out Kurdish fighters.

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