The U.S. military killed the leader of ISIS in an early morning operation in northwest Syria early Thursday morning, President Joe Biden said.
Abu Ibrahim al Hashimi al Qurayshi, who took control of the terror group in October 2019 after Abu Bakr al Baghdadi killed himself as U.S. commandos closed in on him in the same region, was the target of the successful mission, the president said.
“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 skill and bravery of our Armed Forces, we have taken off the battlefield Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi — the leader of ISIS. All Americans have returned safely from the operation.”
Abu Hamza al Qurayshi, an Islamic State spokesman in 2019, said that Abu Ibrahim al Hashimi al Qurayshi was named the “Amir al-Muminin,” or Emir of the Faithful, after a meeting of the top advisory council and that Baghdadi had supposedly picked his successor before his death, according to Nov. 2019 analysis from FDD’s Long War Journal.
Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said the operation was carried out by U.S. Special Operations forces under the control of U.S. Central Command.
“The mission was successful,” Kirby said. “There were no U.S. casualties.”
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News reports said shellings and explosions detonated before U.S. forces airdropped onto the ground and targeted a two-story house along the Syrian-Turkish border of Atmeh.
The Syrian White Helmets, also known as the Syria Civil Defense, said that 13 bodies were recovered at the site, including six children and four women. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also said that thirteen people lost their lives in the strike, though the group reports that four children and three women died.
The discrepancies between the two organizations will likely be cleared up with more time as details emerge about the operation.
SOHR sources told the group that the “operation was similar to the one which targeted Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in Idlib in 2019.”
U.S. Central Command, which oversees the region, did not put out a statement and did not respond to a Washington Examiner request for comment.
CENTCOM has quietly conducted a campaign of strikes in the northwest Syrian region against jihadists over the last couple months.
The U.S. launched a kinetic strike near Idlib on Deb. 3 targeting a senior al Qaeda “leader and planner,” though there were reports of civilian casualties in that strike as well. CENTCOM said at the time that it is “initiating a full investigation,” yet no updates have been provided in the two months since. CENTCOM did not respond to a Washington Examiner request for an update as recently as this Tuesday, just a day before this latest operation.
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CENTCOM also killed Abdul Hamid al Matar, whom U.S. Maj. John Rigsbee, a Central Command spokesman, described as a “senior al Qaeda leader” on Oct. 22, and the U.S. previously targeted a different al Qaeda “senior” leader the month before.
The most recent reports of civilian casualties come roughly a week after Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin initiated a review and some changes to avoid such problems. The Department of Defense will immediately establish a civilian protection center and will unveil a specific plan on preventing civilian harm within 90 days.
