A spokesperson for the terrorist organization ISIS confirmed on Thursday, in an undated recording on a Telegram channel affiliated with the group, the killing of its leader Abu Al Hussein Al Hashimi Al Qurashi. The spokesperson stated that the leader’s death occurred during clashes in Idlib, northwestern Syria.
Previously in control of one-third of the territories in Iraq and Syria, ISIS was once a dominant force governing millions of people. However, the organization now operates covertly. Northwestern Syria has become a significant safe haven for the group in the Middle East following its defeat in Iraq in 2017 and in Syria in 2019. Its operatives manage to infiltrate through the 600-kilometer-long Iraq-Syria border.
In April of last year, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced that Turkish intelligence forces had killed Abu Al-Hussein Al-Hashimi Al-Qurashi in Syria. The elimination of the ISIS leader is seen as a significant blow to the terrorist organization, which continues to operate in the shadows despite its territorial losses.