"Headless" is ISIS after the neutralization of Abu Ibrahim al-Hashemi al-Qurashi after a coordinated operation by the US armed forces. Al-Qurasi took over the reins of the Islamist terrorist group in 2019, three months after the death of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
Little is known about al-Qurashi with most political analysts arguing that the name by which he was known was most likely a pseudonym. The 45-year-old Iraqi was born in October 1976 in the city of Tal Afar. His parents were Turkmen. He studied Sharia law at Mosul University and, after graduation, served as an army officer in Baathist Iraq.
In 2004, in prison, he met al-Baghdadi
In 2004, he was imprisoned by US forces at Camp Bucca in southern Iraq, where he met Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. In 2008, while in prison, he served as an informant for the US military in Iraq. The Americans, who wanted to eliminate him at all costs in recent years, offered the not inconsiderable sum of USD 10 million to anyone with information leading to his arrest.
For Rita Katz , director of the intelligence association "SITE Intelligence Group", the Islamic State has avoided releasing any recorded messages or videos that would reveal the identity of Baghdadi's successor.
However, on November 1, 2019, the then President of the United States, Donald Trump, had written on his beloved Twitter that the Washington government had managed to identify him.
The Small Wars Journal had written that indeed Abu Ibrahim al-Hashemi al-Qurashi was of Iraqi origin. This is because Iraqis make up the majority of the Islamic State terrorists and would not under any circumstances accept a non-Iraqi leader to take over the reins of the organization.
The operation of his elimination
It will be recalled that the US military killed the leader of the Islamic State (ISIS) during an operation in northwestern Syria, as announced by the White House. In a statement, US President Joe Biden claimed that yesterday , as part of a counter-terrorism operation involving US special forces in northwestern Syria, the leader of ISIS, Abu Ibrahim al-Hasimi al-Qurashi, was killed.
"Last night, under my leadership, US military forces in northwestern Syria successfully undertook a counterterrorism operation to protect the American people and our Allies and make the world a safer place. Thanks to the skill and bravery of our Armed Forces, we neutralized Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi-the leader of ISIS. All Americans returned safely from the operation," the president said in a statement early Thursday morning."
According to the Pentagon, there were no human casualties on the American side. "More information will be released as it becomes available," the statement said."
He detonated a bomb when he realized he would not be spared
On January 20, 2020, The Guardian had published an article stating that his real name was Amir Mohammed Abdul Rahman al-Mawli al-Salbi. On 3 February 2022, US President Joe Biden announced that as part of a US counter-terrorism operation in northwestern Syria, al-Qurashi was dead.
However, when he realized that he would not be spared by the Americans, he activated a bomb, ending his life. The American counterterrorism operation was conducted in the northern Syrian city of Atmeh in Idlib province.
Μπάιντεν: ISIS leader blown up 'in a last-ditch act of cowardice'
Speaking from the White House, Biden said that Abu Ibrahim al-Hashemi al-Quraishi chose to blow himself up by taking a cowardly action, adding that his administration will continue to work with partners to keep the pressure on ISIS.
"In a desperate last-ditch act of cowardice and with no regard for the lives of his own family or other people in the building, he chose to blow himself up, detonating not only the explosives he was armed with but blowing up that third floor instead of facing justice for the crimes he committed, taking several members of his family with him, as his predecessor had done," Biden said.
The United States "eliminated a major terrorist threat. The leader of the Islamic State blew himself up by making a last-ditch act of cowardice," he noted in his brief speech. The US president said he preferred the operation to be carried out by commandos in order to avoid civilian casualties.
Source: protothema.gr
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