Syria says killed senior IS leader

Syrian authorities on Thursday said they killed a senior leader in the Islamic State group in coordination with the US-led coalition, hours after the arrest near Damascus of another leader.

Syrian security and intelligence forces, working in coordination with the international coalition, conducted what the interior ministry described as a "precise security operation".

"The operation resulted in neutralising the terrorist Mohammad Shahada, known as 'Abu Omar Shaddad', who is considered one of the prominent IS leaders in Syria," it added.

"This operation comes as confirmation of the effectiveness of joint coordination between the national security agencies and international partners."

Hours earlier, authorities said they captured Taha al-Zoubi, also known as Abu Omar Tabiya, an IS leader in Damascus, along with several of his men on Wednesday.

A December 13 attack killed two US soldiers and an American civilian. Washington blamed the attack on a lone IS gunman in Syria's Palmyra.

In retaliation, US forces conducted strikes targeting scores of IS targets in Syria.

The strikes killed five members of the jihadist group, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

In November, during a visit by interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa to Washington, Syria officially joined the US-led coalition against IS.

Sharaa is an Islamist ruler and a former jihadist whose group fought IS at the height of his country's civil war.