Lagatar24 Desk
Atmeh, Feb 4: President Joe Biden said that the commander of the Islamic State (IS/ISIS), Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi, was killed in a US counterterrorism operation in Idlib province in northwestern Syria.
The terrorist group’s capabilities have been badly crippled and dispersed since coalition forces destroyed their ‘caliphate’ roughly three years ago, and the death is a huge blow to them.
“Last night at my direction, U.S. military forces successfully undertook a counterterrorism operation. Thanks to the bravery of our Armed Forces, we have removed from the battlefield Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi — the leader of ISIS,” tweeted Biden.
“We all remember the gut wrenching stories, mass slaughters that wiped out entire villages, thousands of women and young girls sold into slavery, rape used a weapon of war,” and that “this horrible terrorist leader is no more”, said Biden speaking at the White House on Thursday morning.
About 50 US special operations forces landed in helicopters and attacked a house in a rebel-held corner of Syria, clashing for two hours with gunmen, witnesses said.