Senior Islamic State commander in Syria may have been killed

One of Islamic State's top commanders in Syria was probably killed in combat as the jihadists sought to stave off an advance by US-backed Syrian forces towards a strategic dam in northern Syria, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Tuesday.

The commander known as Abu Jandal al-Kuwaiti was killed as Islamic State fighters tried to drive the Syrian Democratic Forces from the village of Jabar captured from the jihadists on Monday, Observatory Director Rami Abdulrahman said.

The Islamic State counter attack, launched overnight, failed. The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), including the powerful Kurdish YPG militia, have advanced to within 5 km (3 miles) of the dam, Abdulrahman said.