US President Joe Biden announced that Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi, referred to as the “leader” of the Islamic State group “was knocked out” during a US special forces raid in the Northwest. of Syria. “Thanks to the ability and courage of our armed forces, we have eliminated Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi,” he said in a statement from the White House. In the course of his speech to the Nation from the White House , President Biden referred directly to the terrorists saying: “We will pick you up from anywhere in the world, wherever you are hiding.” Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Quraishi “was a great threat. for the world and the American military forces have successfully removed it ”
As already anticipated by sources of the administration to the American media, the president said that it was the leader of the Islamic State himself who caused the explosion in which civilians were killed.
The US chose the “risk” of a special forces raid instead of an air strike to protect civilians but the ISIS leader: “As the troops approached, in a desperate final act of cowardice he chose to blow up the third floor “of the house, with no regard for his family or other people in the building,” Biden said.
The raid was conducted by about twenty US special forces soldiers, who arrived on board helicopters and flanked by assault helicopters, Reaper armed drones and fighter bombers. The American commandos would have entered into action after midnight, in the city of Atmeh, near the border with Turkey.
The blitz would have targeted a house in particular. According to the reconstruction made by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, US forces “surrounded a two-story building, asking the people inside to come out and surrender”, but there were “clashes involving coalition fighters. who have targeted the area “. According to sources consulted by the NGO, the clashes went on for about 90 minutes.
The operation recalls the one conducted in October 2019, which led to the killing of the then leader of ISIS, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who also died after detonating an explosive vest. Al-Qurayshi had been referred to as al-Baghdadi’s own successor.
According to activists and rescuers of Syria Civil Defense, an organization also known as White Helmets, 13 people were killed in the raid, including minors and women, including relatives of the “leader” of Isis. The profile of al-Qurayshi: who was the terrorist killed in the American raid in Syria
US President Joe Biden witnessed the raid, together with Vice President Kamala Harris and collaborators of the national security team, live from the Situation Room of the White House. The White House tweeted a photo of Biden, Harris and members of the national security team observing the operation.
According to CNN in the Situation Room there was “a lot of tension” and Biden anxiously observed an American helicopter that showed technical problems on the ground. CNN then speaks of ” relief ” in the room when some children came out of the first floor of the building and ran outside. A few moments later an explosion occurred, caused by the decision of the ISIS leader to die as a kamikaze along with his wife and children.
CNN writes that US President Joe Biden gave final approval on Tuesday to the operation aimed at eliminating the leader of the Islamic State (Isis). US officials said Biden’s clearance came after the president was briefed in the Oval Office by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and General Mark Milley, the chief of the assembled General Staff. The president personally studied the model of the building that housed the ISIS leader and that the military leaders had in the Situation Room in December.
According to the Guardian, the owner of the house and the neighbors seem not to have known that the new leader of the Islamic State, Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Quraishi, lived in the building targeted by the US raid in Syria tonight. The owner told local media that the house was rented 11 months ago by a man with a Syrian ID, who arrived with a wife, three small children and a sister. Neighbors say they were ignorant of the man’s identity. “We only saw his wife who went to buy vegetables – said Omar Halabi, 36 years old – I saw him once, he was calm and humble”.
