Washington: The US military has conducted an operation against elusive Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, a US official says as US President Donald Trump prepares to make a "major statement" at the White House.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, was unable to say whether the operation against Baghdadi was successful.

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi when last pictured in an latest Islamic State video.Credit:ninevms

Newsweek said the operation took place in Syria's north-western Idlib province and was carried out by special operations forces on Saturday after receiving actionable intelligence.

The official did not disclose details of the operation and other US officials contacted by Reuters declined to comment. The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

White House spokesman Hogan Gidley announced late on Saturday that Trump would make a "major statement" at 9am on Sunday local time (midnight Australian eastern daylight savings time).

Gidley gave no further details.

The President gave an indication that something was afoot earlier on Saturday night when he tweeted without explanation, "Something very big has just happened!"

Trump has been frustrated by the US news media's heavy focus on the Democratic- led impeachment inquiry, which he calls an illegitimate witch-hunt.

He has also faced withering criticism from both Republicans and Democrats alike for his US troop withdrawal from north-eastern Syria, which permitted Turkey to attack America's Kurdish allies.

Trump was expected to make the statement in the White House Diplomatic Reception Room, which he has used to make a number of major announcements.

Just last week he used the same room to announce that a ceasefire between Turkey and the Kurds had taken hold.

For days, US officials had feared that Islamic State would seek to capitalise on the upheaval in Syria. But they also saw a potential opportunity, in which Islamic State leaders might break from more secretive routines to communicate with operatives, potentially creating a chance for the United States and its allies to detect them.

Baghdadi was long thought to hiding somewhere along the Iraq-Syria border. He has led the group since 2010, when it was still an underground al-Qaeda offshoot in Iraq.

On September 16, Islamic State's media network issued a 30-minute audio message purporting to come from Baghdadi, in which he said operations were taking place daily and called on supporters to free women jailed in camps in Iraq and Syria over their alleged links to his group.

Meanwhile, a senior US diplomat told lawmakers leading an impeachment inquiry that he did not know whether Trump had withheld aid for Ukraine in an attempt to force an investigation of a political rival, sources said.

However, Democrats said his testimony corroborated other evidence gathered.

Philip Reeker, the acting assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs, spent about eight hours with the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs, Intelligence and Oversight committees behind closed doors at the US Capitol.

Reeker told lawmakers he was unaware of whether US security aid to Ukraine was withheld to pressure Kiev to launch investigations that could have helped Trump's 2020 re-election bid, according to a source familiar with the matter.

At the end of Saturday's session, Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff told reporters, "We're making rapid progress" in the impeachment inquiry. He declined to say when the panels might advance to the next phase of hearings open to the public.

The Democratic-led committees are conducting an inquiry focusing on Trump's request to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy that he investigate former US vice-president Joe Biden, a leading Democratic presidential candidate, and his son Hunter Biden, who had served on the board of a Ukrainian gas company.

US election law prohibits candidates from accepting foreign help in an election.

As part of their probe, the lawmakers are examining whether Trump withheld $US391 million ($573 million) in security assistance until Zelenskiy publicly committed to both an investigation of the Bidens and a debunked conspiracy theory that Ukraine – not Russia – meddled in the US 2016 presidential election.

Reuters

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