ISIS leader blew himself during US operation, US official

QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – A senior US administration official said on Thursday that ISIS leader Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi blew himself up during the operation which took place in northwest Syria last night.

“At the beginning of the operation, the terrorist target exploded a bomb that killed him and members of his own family, including women and children,” the official said.

“it cannot be disclosed now if there were bodies taken from the site of the operation,” he added.

Earlier today, the US President Joe Biden announced the killing of the leader of ISIS during an operation in Syria.

“Last night at my direction, U.S. military forces in northwest Syria successfully undertook a counterterrorism operation to protect the American people and our Allies, and make the world a safer place,” Biden said in a statement.

“Thanks to the courage of our armed forces, the leader of ISIS, Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi, was killed and removed from the battlefield,” Biden added.

After midnight last night, the American forces launched an airborne raid on a house near the town of Atma in northwest Syria, and clashes erupted for about two hours, then the attacking force withdrew.

The Wall Street Journal published the details of the landing operation, noting that it “was carried out 24 kilometers away from the place where the former leader of ISIS, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, was killed.”

It added that Apache helicopters, drones and ground forces participated in the operation, which was planned during the past few days, and targeted a “major terrorist” without naming him.