According to the Turkish government, Abu al-Hussein al-Qurashi, the leader and self-proclaimed caliph of the Islamic State group (ISIS), was killed in northern Syria during a Turkish operation.
Late on Sunday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced that al-Qurashi had been “neutralized” over the weekend by Turkish forces.
During an interview, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan stated that MIT, the National Intelligence Organization, had been monitoring the alleged leader of Daesh, Abu Hussein al-Qurashi, for a significant amount of time.
The president also announced that al-Qurashi had been “neutralized” in a Turkish operation in Syria over the weekend.
Local journalists reported that Turkish forces conducted the operation by raiding a house in a village near Jindires, which is approximately 7 kilometers from the Turkish border.
The Turkish forces encountered ISIS fighters at the compound and encircled al-Qurashi, who refused to surrender. He then detonated explosives attached to his body, resulting in his death.
In November, Al-Qurashi was appointed as the fourth leader of ISIS after the death of his predecessor, although no photos of him were ever released.
The group’s founder, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, was killed by U.S. forces in 2019. Earlier this month, the U.S. conducted a helicopter raid in northern Syria in response to intelligence about a plot to kidnap government officials abroad, killing at least three ISIS fighters, including a senior leader.
At its peak in 2014, ISIS occupied approximately one-third of Syria and Iraq, causing a major humanitarian crisis and carrying out or inspiring numerous terrorist attacks around the world.
However, its so-called caliphate has now mostly disappeared, with the group controlling only small areas of land.
Turkish intelligence forces killed Islamic State leader Abu Hussein al-Qurashi in Syria