Militant leader killed in US air strike, say clerics

The spiritual leader of the terror group believed to have killed two American hostages in Iraq this week and responsible for a string of other deadly attacks has been killed in a US air strike, his family and Islamic clerics said yesterday.

The death of Sheikh Abu Anas al-Shami, who has in previous preachings on the internet condoned the kidnapping and killing of hostages, is a blow to Iraq’s most active militant group, Tawhid and Jihad, led by Jordanian-born militant Abu-Musab al-Zarqawi, experts say.