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ISIS leader eliminated by US special forces

The leader of ISIS has been “taken off the battlefield”, as US President Joe Biden put it in a statement on Thursday.

Abu Ibrahim al-Hashemi al-Quraishi, the man who inherited an unwieldy collective from his predecessor Abu%20Bakr Al-Baghdadi — a defunct quasi-state of the Islamic Caliphate and the reigns to the most notorious terrorist organisation dubbed ISIS, or Daesh, has been eliminated in a US special forces raid at a residence in Atmeh — a town located in Syria right next to the Turkish border.

Sweeping skills

“Thanks to the skill and bravery of our armed forces, we have taken off the battlefield…the leader of ISIS. All Americans have returned safely from the operation,” President Biden said, sharing the breaking news.

Last night’s operation is a testament to America’s reach and capability to take out terrorist threats — no matter where they try to hide in the world.

I am determined to protect the American people from terrorist threats, and I will take decisive action to protect this country.

— President Biden (@POTUS) February 3, 2022

A senior US administration official told Reuters that Al-Quraishi had been killed in the raid. “At the beginning of the operation the terrorist target exploded a bomb that killed him and members of his own family, including women and children,” the official said.

Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby earlier described Thursday’s raid as a successful counter-terrorism mission, saying there were no US casualties, Reuters reported.

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A heavy fall for the shadowy caliph

The situation on the ground on the day of Al-Baghdadi’s killing was already looking gloomy for the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). With the then US President Donald Trump declared ISIL defeated on December 19, 2018, taking Al-Baghdadi off the board on October 27, 2019, only forced ISIS’ hand more to into guerilla mode. Al-Quraishi had to play out his predecessor’s strategy of leading a counterattack from Iraq. To do this, however, the new “caliph” had to pull together his own ranks, much like the first historic caliph and successor of Mohammed named Abu Bakr had to do in the 7th century after the leader’s demise. At first, Al-Quraishi woke up to a mutiny and a barrage of questions from the Al-Wafa’ Media Agency, an online media outlet previously aligned with the Islamic State before turning against it in March 2019.

The media smear campaign turned out to be relatively inefficient. Throughout the month of November 2019, the vast majority of the caliphate-constituting provinces pledged allegiance to Al-Quraishi. The new caliph’s decisions resulted in some pushback on the part of his underlings, leading the UN Security Council to judge in January 2020 that the Islamic State had undergone a resurgence in Iraq and Syria.

Whether that was due to plausible strategic acumen of Al-Quraishi or not remains unknown. Although Al-Baghdadi had some degree of media presence, Al-Quraishi came to be often described as a shadowy leader, be it due to consciously adopted elusiveness or a lack of competence in front of the camera, which might have undermined his campaign.

Be it as it were, the caliphate successor did not evade the American eagle’s keen eye. The special forces’ strike turned out successful.

Target reportedly blew himself and his family up

However, it was deadly not just for Al-Quraishi. Rescue workers said at least 13 people also died, including women and children.

For his part, President Biden said the US had taken every possible precaution to minimize civilian casualties in the special forces counter-terrorism raid. He went on to say that Abu Ibrahim al-Hashemi al-Quraishi had chosen to blow himself up in cowardly act.

“While we are still assessing the results of this operation, this appears to be the same cowardly terrorist tactic we saw in the 2019 operation that eliminated al-Baghdadi,” the official said.

The President added that his administration would continue working with partners to keep up pressure on ISIS.

A senior Biden administration official said that “all casualties at the site were due to the acts of ISIS terrorists inside the residence.” However, he declined to offer reporters an estimate on the number of civilians killed.

The suicide blast was so big from the bomb that Islamic State’s leader detonated when US forces closed in on him that it blew bodies outside the building and into the neighbourhood, US officials said on Thursday, blaming ISIS for all civilian casualties.

As reported by Reuters, residents said helicopters landed and heavy gunfire and explosions were heard during the raid that began around midnight. US forces used loudspeakers to warn women and children to leave the area.

“US military procedures to guard against civilian casualties are currently under scrutiny following a high-profile mistaken drone strike in Afghanistan that the Pentagon initially hailed a success,” Reuters reported.

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