The commander of the now-weakened terrorist group met a violent finish in Idlib, Syria
Earlier than the US introduced that Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi was “taken off the battlefield,” some speculated that the Islamic State (IS, previously ISIS) chief didn’t even exist. Right here’s what we all know concerning the terrorist chief, and the US operation that “eliminated” him.
A person of thriller Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi was appointed chief of IS in 2019, after the terrorist group’s infamous boss, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, was killed in a raid by US particular forces ordered by then-President Donald Trump. Al-Qurayshi was mentioned to be an Iraqi of Turkmen descent and reportedly served as an officer in Saddam Hussein’s military, becoming a member of Al-Qaeda after the US army toppled Saddam’s authorities in 2003.
After an unknown interval of detention by the US in Iraq, al-Qurayshi disappeared into the jihadist underworld. It’s assumed that al-Qurayshi pledged allegiance to the longer term IS chief, al-Baghdadi, after they have been each detained by the US forces.
Al-Qurayshi, born Amir Mohammed Abdul Rahman al-Mawli al-Salbi, has an inventory of round two dozen different names, nicknames, and aliases, in line with the Counter Extremism Challenge. Nevertheless, little is thought about his actions between his launch and appointment as IS chief in 2019. Voice of America reported in 2019 that “there are even doubts that the person… exists in any respect.” Nevertheless, it’s believed that al-Qurayshi served as al-Baghdadi’s prime lieutenant, and that he ordered the group’s fighters to assault and enslave Iraq’s Yazidi minority in 2015.
ISIS in decline Al-Baghdadi’s dying was seen by many as the ultimate nail in IS’ coffin. Whereas the group as soon as managed monumental swathes of Iraq and Syria, all of its territorial beneficial properties made since 2014 had been rolled again by the Syrian army and its Russian and Iranian allies, by US-sponsored opposition forces in Syria, and by a US and coalition air marketing campaign. IS by late 2019 managed just a few pockets of land in Syria, and was not ordering common terrorist assaults on the streets of Europe.
Nevertheless, the Pentagon and State Division judged in 2020 that IS below al-Qurayshi was mounting a resurgence following a spike in assaults, and the group’s new chief was labeled a Specifically Designated International Terrorist that March. The State Division had supplied a $5 million reward for his seize in mid-2019, and this bounty was bumped as much as $10 million in 2020.
Then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo mentioned that the reward was doubled on account of the truth that al-Qurayshi “helped drive and justify the kidnapping, slaughter, and trafficking of the Yazidi non secular minority in northwest Iraq and likewise led a few of the group’s world terrorist operations.
Dying in Idlib US President Joe Biden introduced on February 3 that al-Qurayshi had been killed in a “counterterrorism operation” in Idlib province, northwestern Syria, the evening earlier than. Locals informed AP that the operation, which focused a home, concerned a number of helicopters, and that explosions and machine gun hearth have been heard.
The IS chief killed himself by detonating a suicide vest because the People closed in, a US official informed AFP and Axios. “Initially of the operation the terrorist goal exploded a bomb that killed him and members of his family, together with ladies and kids,” Axios quoted the supply as saying.
Whereas no People have been harmed within the raid, a number of civilian casualties have been reported, with Al-Jazeera claiming that seven kids and three ladies have been amongst not less than a dozen our bodies. UNICEF confirmed that not less than six kids have been killed and one other injured, and that “civilian-populated areas have been severely broken.”
What’s occurring in Idlib? Al-Qurayshi and al-Baghdadi have been each killed by the US in Idlib, a province in northwestern Syria bordering Turkey. The province has been bitterly contested all through the Syrian Civil warfare, with Syrian authorities forces and Turkish-backed opposition fighters vying for management. Idlib is at the moment managed by opposition teams, and is likely one of the few comparatively secure havens remaining for IS members like al-Qurayshi.
What’s subsequent for IS? Whereas IS has seen its territory retaken, its members pushed underground, and its second chief in lower than three years killed by the US, the group remains to be able to mounting opportunistic assaults. Lower than two weeks in the past the group attacked a jail in Hasaka in northeastern Syria run by the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a Kurdish militia. The battle for the jail killed tons of of individuals, and the power was solely retaken after greater than per week with the assistance of American troops.
“If their assault had succeeded, they’d have attacked different neighborhoods in al-Hasaka as nicely, along with the assaults on the areas of al-Hol, al-Shadada, and Deir el-Zour, to place their intensive scheme into impact,” the SDF mentioned in a assertion after the jail was retaken. “They wished to launch a large-scale assault on the world to unfold as soon as once more their terrorism,” the assertion continued, claiming that the jail assault was IS’ first step towards establishing a “Second Islamic State.”
Western officers, nevertheless, are uncertain. “I believe that extremely unlikely,” a counterterrorism official informed Voice of America. “The native situations don’t at the moment exist for resurgence,” he added, whereas a special US official mentioned that regardless of making “incremental enhancements,” IS stays dedicated to “long-term objectives” of consolidating energy in Iraq and Syria.
