ISIS leader Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi was killed on Wednesday during a US counterterrorism raid in northwest Syria, US President Joe Biden announced on Thursday morning, as per CNN.
It was the biggest US raid in the country since the 2019 operation that killed ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
Biden said the US special forces conducted a counter-terrorism raid in northwest Syria in which Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi, the “horrible” current leader of Islamic State, was confirmed killed. Rescue workers said at least 13 people also died in the operation, including women and children.
Last night, operating on my orders, U.S. military forces successfully removed a major terrorist threat to the world: the global leader of ISIS.
Thanks to the bravery of our troops, this horrible terrorist leader is no more.
— President Biden (@POTUS) February 3, 2022
“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,” Biden said in a statement.
Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby earlier described Thursday’s raid as a successful counter-terrorism mission, saying there were no U.S. casualties.