"The death of Baghdadi is an important moment in our fight against terror but the battle against the evil of Daesh is not yet over," he wrote on Twitter.

"We will work with our coalition partners to bring an end to the murderous, barbaric activities of Daesh once and for all."

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said the Islamic State group's leaders "have twisted Islam to groom thousands of people into joining their evil cause".

"I welcome the action that has been taken. The world will not miss Al-Baghdadi," he tweeted.