According to reports, Pentagon still has questions about civilian casualties as well as who set off the bomb that killed the terrorist leader.
Senior US military personnel involved in raid to take out Islamic State, also known as ISIS, leader Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurashi (northern Syria) earlier this month said that it was possible that civilians were killed more than what the Pentagon previously acknowledged. The officials added that they had no clarity on who detonated the bomb that killed the group’s boss.
US President Joe Biden announced Qurashi’s death on February 3, claiming that the terrorist leader had blown himself up in order to avoid capture at his remote home in the village of Atme near the Turkish border.
The Pentagon reported at the time that four civilians, including Qurashi’s wife and two children, were killed in an explosion caused by the terrorist, while 10 more civilians, including seven children, had been evacuated.
However, independent reports quickly stated that 13 victims were killed including six children and four women.
On condition of anonymity US officials said that more casualties were possible because they had been able to recover bodies from the rubble. The Associated Press quoted US officials as saying that Qurashi had been hiding on the third level of the building. It was rigged in explosives. “multiple bodies,”They were buried under rubble. The victims could also include his wives, he said.
The AP reported that official sources are unsure who set off the explosions. Qurashi was either the perpetrator or someone else. They were certain that the explosion did not result in any deaths.
According to sources, people shot at commandos in the house before they entered the building following the explosion. Qurashi’s lieutenant was killed in the firefight along with his wife, and the couple’s toddler was later found dead, while four of their other children have been rescued by commandos, the AP said. They also said no gunshot wounds were found on the toddler’s body.
The Washington Post quotes a source in the military as saying that he is currently on leave. “not seen anything that leads me to conclude there were a different number of casualties than we’ve seen.”He acknowledged however that “it was certainly within the realm of possible that there were additional things.”
The Post reported Thursday that at least four of the bodies of children could be seen on video taken at the site shortly following the raid.
The previous leader of Islamic State Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, was also killed during a US-led raid in Syria. According to Donald Trump, Qurashi also blew himself up and took several relatives with him.
[ad_2]
