President Joe Biden announced on Thursday (Feb 3) that a “successful” U.S. Special Operations counterterrorism mission in northwestern Syria forces killed Abu Ibrahim al-Hashemi Al-Qurashi, the leader of the terror outfit Islamic State.

“Thanks to the skill and bravery of our Armed Forces, we have taken off the battlefield Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi — the leader of ISIS,” the president said in a statement.

Biden claimed that he ordered the raid to “protect the American people and our allies, and make the world a safer place.”

"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 as a weapon of war." Biden said

"And thanks to the bravery of our troops, this horrible terrorist leader is no more." he added

While Biden and Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said there were no U.S. casualties, at least thirteen civilians, including children, reportedly died during the raid, which occurred in Syria’s Idlib province.

The raid targeted a three-storey residential building on the outskirts of the opposition-held town of Atmeh, which is in northern Idlib province and close to the border with Turkey.

Several top al-Qaeda operatives and other terror groups still fighting President Bashar al-Assad live in the area. The area also houses a number of camps for internally displaced people from Syria’s civil war.

Al-Qurashi had succeeded Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi as the leader of Islamic State. In Oct 2019, Baghdadi was killed after a special military operation by U.S code named Operation Kayla Mueller. After being cornered during the special ops, Baghdadi killed himself along with two children when he detonated a suicide belt while seeking to evade U.S. forces.

A dreaded Islamic terriorist , Qurayshi was also known by several other names - Hajji Abdullah, Amir Mohammed Said Abdul Rahman al-Mawla and Abdullah Qardash.

"Hajji Abdullah oversaw the spread of ISIS-affiliated terrorist groups around the world after savaging communities and murdering innocents." a statement by Biden said.

Qurayshi is also seen as responsible for the recent brutal attack on a prison in northeast Syria holding ISIS fighters, which was swiftly addressed by our brave partners in the Syrian Democratic Forces.

He is believed to be the driving force behind the genocide of the Yazidi people in northwestern Iraq in 2014.

Abu Ibrahim al-Qurayshi

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