IS leader is killed in Qalamoun

The Shia militant group killed Abu Abdullah al-Iraqi in the Qalamoun region in Syria. Al-Iraqi was an Islamic State official in charge of preparing suicide attacks, according to the Observatory.

"He was killed by a roadside bomb planted by Hezbollah that detonated as his vehicle passed by," the Observatory said.

Hezbollah's Al-Manar television station meanwhile reported Iraqi's death, but said he had been killed by the Syrian army.

"The Islamic State official Abu Abdullah al-Iraqi has been killed in a Syrian army operation in Qalamoun," al-Manar said.

"He was in charge of preparing suicide bombers and the cars used in bomb attacks including those carried out in Lebanon," the station said.

Hezbollah has been fighting with the Syrian government since 2012 against what it refers to as “Takfiri” forces fighting within the country, who it claims would turn their guns on the Shia in Lebanon after Syria.