The leader of the Islamic State militant group in Syria was killed Tuesday in a US drone strike, the Pentagon said.

Maher al-Agal was killed while riding a motorcycle near Jindayris in Syria, and one of his top aides was seriously injured, Pentagon Central Command spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Dave Eastburn told AFP.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights confirmed that Agal was killed in a drone strike.

The Syrian Civil Defense Force said one person was killed and another injured in a strike that targeted a motorcycle outside Aleppo, but did not identify the victims.

There was little information available about Agal, whom the Observatory called the Islamic State governor for the Levant.

The strike came five months after a nighttime US raid in the town of Atme in northern Syria led to the death of the overall Islamic State leader, Abu Ibrahim al-Qurashi.

US officials said Qurashi died when he detonated a bomb to avoid capture.