Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has announced that Turkish intelligence forces had killed the suspected leader of the ISIL (ISIS) group, Abu al-Hussein al-Husseini al-Qurashi.
Erdogan stated that Turkish intelligence had been monitoring the alleged leader for a long time before launching their operation.
He added, “We will continue our struggle with terrorist organisations without any discrimination.”
Syrian local and security sources reported that Turkish intelligence agents and local military police, backed by Turkey, had sealed off a zone in Jindires on Saturday.
An operation had targeted an abandoned farm that was being used as an Islamic school, according to residents. Clashes started on the edge of the town overnight from Saturday into Sunday, lasting for about an hour before residents heard a large explosion. The area was later encircled by security forces to prevent anyone from approaching.
ISIL (ISIS) has made no announcement. The Syrian National Army, an opposition faction with a security presence in the area, did not issue any comment immediately.
Al-Qurashi had become the ISIL (ISIS) leader in November 2022 after his predecessor was killed. The group had taken over vast swathes of Iraq and Syria in 2014, and its head at the time, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, had declared an Islamic caliphate across an area that was home to millions of people.
However, the group lost its grip on the territory after campaigns by US-backed forces in Syria and Iraq, as well as Syrian forces backed by Iran, Russia, and various paramilitaries. Its remaining fighters are now mostly hiding in remote areas of Syria and Iraq, and still launch attacks from time to time.
