Islamic State leader killed during US raid

ATMEH (AP):

The leader of the violent Islamic State (IS) group was killed Thursday, blowing himself up along with members of his family during an overnight raid carried out by US special operations forces in northwestern Syria, President Joe Biden said.

The raid targeted Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi, who took over as head of the militant group on October 31, 2019, just days after leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi died during a US raid in the same area. Biden said al-Qurayshi died as al-Baghdadi did, by exploding a bomb that killed himself and members of his family, including women and children, as US forces approached.

The operation came as IS has been trying for a resurgence, with a series of attacks in the region, including an assault late last month to seize a prison in northeast Syria holding at least 3,000 IS detainees, its boldest operation in years.

“Thanks to the bravery of our troops this horrible terrorist leader is no more,” Biden said. He said al-Qurayshi had been responsible for the prison strike, as well as genocide against the Yazidi people in Iraq in 2014.

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. Residents described continuous gunfire and explosions that jolted the town of Atmeh near the Turkish border, an area dotted with camps for internally displaced people from Syria’s civil war.

Biden said he ordered US forces to “take every precaution available to minimise civilian casualties”, the reason they did not conduct an airstrike on the home.

First responders reported that 13 people had been killed, including six children and four women.

Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said US forces were able to evacuate 10 people from the building: a man, a woman and four children from the first floor and four children from the second floor. He said when al-Qurayshi detonated the bomb, he also killed his wife and two children. Kirby said that US officials were conducting an assessment to determine whether American action resulted in any civilian deaths.

US forces took fingerprints and DNA, which confirmed al-Qurayshi’s death, officials said.

Biden, along with Vice President Kamala Harris and senior national security aides monitored a live-feed of the operation from the White House Situation Room, according to an official. The president was kept abreast of the commandos’ long flight out of Syria by National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan overnight.

The operation marked a military success for the United States at an important time after setbacks elsewhere – including the chaotic Afghanistan withdrawal – had led allies and opponents to conclude US power globally was weakening.

The house, surrounded by olive trees in fields outside Atmeh, was left with its top floor shattered and blood spattered inside. A journalist on assignment for AP, and several residents, said they saw body parts scattered near the site. Most residents spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.

“The mission was successful,” Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said in a brief statement. “There were no US casualties.”