The chief of the Islamic State group blew himself up throughout an in a single day raid by US particular operations forces in northwest Syria, President Joe Biden stated this morning.
Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi and several other civilians had been killed throughout a pre-dawn raid at a home in Atmeh, in rebel-held Idlib province, simply minutes away from the Turkish border.
“Final night time at my path, US navy forces efficiently undertook a counterterrorism operation,” Biden stated in an announcement Thursday morning. “Due to the bravery of our armed forces, we now have faraway from the battlefield Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi, the chief of ISIS.”
Al-Qurayshi, also called Hajji Abdullah, took command the IS jihadist group following the demise of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi throughout the same US particular forces raid simply an hour’s drive away in October 2019.
The Syrian White Helmets, a volunteer rescue group working in rebel-held areas, stated Thursday its employees had recovered 13 our bodies from the location to this point, together with six kids and 4 girls.
Senior administration officers chatting with reporters on the situation of anonymity disavowed US accountability for the deaths. “All casualties at this website had been because of the acts of ISIS terrorists contained in the residence,” one official stated.
“I directed the Division of Protection to take each precaution attainable to reduce civilian casualties,” President Biden stated in a speech Thursday morning.
The raid started after midnight on Thursday and lasted greater than two hours, culminating in heavy gunfire on the home from US helicopters circling overhead, in accordance with native reports. US forces initially known as by way of loudspeaker for males, girls and youngsters to exit the constructing, a witness stated.
“As our troops approached to seize the terrorist, in a remaining act of determined cowardice… he selected to blow himself up… taking a number of members of his household with him,” Biden stated in his speech. Officers stated the blast destroyed a lot of the highest flooring of the home, photographs of which circulated on social media.
Through the operation, one other Islamic State member, whom US officers described as a lieutenant to Hajji Abdullah, barricaded himself and members of his circle of relatives on the second flooring of the constructing. He and his spouse had been killed after opening fireplace on US forces, the administration officers stated.
At the least eight kids had been “safely eliminated” from the world after rising from the constructing, they stated.
At one level throughout the operation, a US helicopter was focused with gunfire by personnel on the bottom. Officers stated two folks had been killed when US forces returned fireplace.
Earlier than withdrawing, American operators destroyed considered one of their very own helicopters resulting from a mechanical malfunction, although it was not believed to have been resulting from any hostile motion.
The Pentagon launched an announcement after midnight on Thursday, Washington time, saying the operation was profitable and there have been no American casualties.
The raid, which had been in planning for months, was permitted by President Biden on Tuesday morning.
It got here two weeks after the Islamic State launched a serious jail break with at the very least one automotive bomb and greater than 100 fighters in northeast Syria, which is below the management of a Kurdish-led alliance of native multiethnic militias backed by the US navy.
Biden on Thursday stated Hajji Abdullah was behind final month’s assault on the Sinaa prison in Hasakah, which led to a battle that left tons of lifeless and took greater than every week to include.
It stays unclear what number of IS prisoners escaped, although the ability held as many as 5,000 suspected jihadists.
It is a creating story and might be up to date.
