WASHINGTON -- US President Donald Trump said on Sunday the Islamic State (IS) leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi had been killed in a US military operation in Syria.

Speaking in the White House, Trump said US Special Operations Forces conducted a raid Saturday night targeting al-Baghdadi in northwest Syria, during which al-Baghdadi killed himself by igniting a suicide vest.

No US personnel were killed in the operation, Trump said.

Al-Baghdadi, 48, whose real name was Ibrahim Awad al-Badri, announced the establishment of a caliphate, or the so-called Islamic State, in June 2014.

In 2016, the US Department of State offered a reward of up to 25 million US dollars for information leading to his capture or death.