WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. President Joe Biden stated a U.S. particular forces counter-terrorism raid in northwest Syria on Thursday https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-led-coalition-operation-northern-syria-targeted-jihadists-2022-02-03 targeted the leader of Islamic State, including he would deal with the operation in remarks afterward Thursday.
“Thanks to the ability and bravado of our Armed Forces, now 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 stated in an announcement, referring to the acronym by which the Sunni Islamist militant group is usually identified.
A senior U.S. administration official informed Reuters al-Quraishi was killed in the raid.
“At the start of the operation the terrorist goal exploded a bomb that killed him and members of his circle of relatives, together with girls and kids,” the administration official stated.
After the killing of Islamic State founder Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in October 2019, the group named as his successor al-Quraishi, an Iraqi who was as soon as held in U.S. custody.
“While we’re nonetheless assessing the outcomes of this operation, this seems to be the identical cowardly terrorist tactic we noticed in the 2019 operation that eradicated al-Baghdadi,” the official stated.
Biden deliberate to ship remarks on the Syria operation at 9:30 a.m. ET/1430 GMT, the White House stated.
(Reporting by Steve Holland; Additional reporting by Susan Heavey; Writing by Doina Chiacu; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky and Chizu Nomiyama)
