ISIS Leader Quraishi Blew Himself And Kin Up During Raid

The leader of Islamic State (IS) died when he blew himself and family members up during a US military raid in Syria, President Joe Biden said on Thursday (Friday, Feb. 4, 2022, in Manila), dealing a blow to the jihadist group's efforts to reorganize as a guerrilla force after losing large swathes of territory.

Photo Insert: Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark A. Milley observe the U.S. raid in Syria against ISIS leader Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi.

Abu Ibrahim al-Hashemi al-Quraishi, had led IS since the death in 2019 of its founder Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who was also killed when he detonated explosives during a raid by US commandos, Suleiman Al-Khalidi and Nandita Bose reported for Reuters.

As US forces closed in on Quraishi in northwestern Syria overnight, he triggered a blast that also killed members of his own family, including children, according to Biden and US officials.

Remy Tumin and Penn Bullock of the New York Times reported that about two dozen American commandos conducted the operation. Rescue workers said women and children were among at least 13 people killed during the raid in Atmeh, a town close to the border with Turkey in rebel-held Idlib Province.

Witnesses described the raid to The Times. One bystander said that U.S. forces issued demands of surrender by loudspeaker to a woman apparently in the house with children and that he thought missiles were later fired at the house amid hails of gunfire.

US officials, however, said that al-Qurayshi perished by detonating a bomb. Little is known about the ISIS leader, who died as he lived most of his life: off the grid in the jihadist underworld.

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