ISIS announces killing of its leader in Syria, names new one
By Jwan Shekaki
By Jwan Shekaki
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – The Islamic State group (ISIS) announced on Thursday the death of its leader, Abu Hussein al-Qurayshi, and named a new one called Abu Hafs al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi in Syria.
Abu Huthaifa al-Ansari, the group’s spokesperson, said via an audio recording posted on ISIS-affiliates Telegram that al-Qurayshi was killed in clashes with the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS, formerly al-Nusra Front) in Idlib Governorate, northwest Syria, without mentioning when he was killed.
Idlib Governorate in northwest Syria went out of the Syrian government’s control in 2015, where the Turkish-backed factions established their control over the governorate. However, two years later, i.e. since 2017, the HTS has taken control over it, namely the city, while the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army (SNA) controls parts of the southern countryside of the governorate.
Abu Hafs al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi has become the fifth ISIS leader since Aug. 3, 2023 since the group was founded by Iraqi militant Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and declared the so-called “Islamic Caliphate” in large parts of Syria and Iraq in June 2014 before its military defeat in 2019.
“He [Abu Hussein al-Qurayshi] fought them until he succumbed to his wounds,” al-Ansari said, adding that the HTS arrested the former spokesperson, Abu Omar al-Muhajer.
On April 30, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced that Turkish intelligence killed the ISIS leader, Abu al-Hussein al-Husseini al-Qurayshi in the Kurdish-town of Jindires of Afrin, northwestern Syria, which is under the occupation of Turkey. However, ISIS denied the announcement, and the US did not confirm the story at the time, “We are unable to confirm this. Furthermore, we have no information that would support this claim,” a US official told al-Monitor via email.
Hundreds of ISIS militants move in the Turkish occupied Syrian areas, as several leaders were killed there in the recent years.
In July 2022, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) announced the killing of one of the top five ISIS leaders and the leader of ISIS in Syria, in a strike in Jindires.
In December 2022, the British Ministry of Defense announced the targeting of an ISIS leader in the city of al-Bab in the eastern countryside of Aleppo, northern Syria.
In the same month, another ISIS leader was wounded in an airstrike, likely by the US-led Global Coalition, which targeted his home in al-Bab.
ISIS founder Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was killed in a raid by the US forces in northwestern Syria in October 2019. The group’s second, Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi, was also killed in a US raid in February 2022, in northwestern Syria. His successor was killed in southern Syria later that year.
ISIS lost its final stronghold in Syria in March 2019. The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), with the support of the US-led Global Coalition, defeated the group after fierce battles in the town of Baghouz in the eastern countryside of Deir ez-Zor, bringing an end to the so-called caliphate declared by the terrorist group.
After Baghouz, thousands of ISIS militants were transferred to prisons, while their families were placed in Hawl and Roj camps in the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES)-held areas.
Issue of the family members of the ISIS held in camps in northeast Syria constitutes an ongoing challenge for the non-internationally recognized AANES, which repeatedly demands that the concerned countries repatriate their nationals.
Also, the AANES continues to call on the international powers to provide support for establishing rehabilitation centers and help in tackling the security situation in the facilities were ISIS foreign nationals are held.
Despite many calls, the majority of countries, including those participating in the Global coalition, refuse to repatriate their nationals.