2023-08-05 01:14:00
Damascus: Confusion over ISIS’s confirmation that leader Abu al-Hussein al-Husseini al-Qureshi has been killed. ISIS announced on Thursday that Husayni al-Qureshi was killed during direct clashes with the local armed group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) in Idlib province in northwestern Syria. It has not been specified that he is the deceased. It is also said that HTS handed over his body to Turkey.
At the same time, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan claimed that his intelligence forces had killed Husseini al-Qureshi in Syria in April. Erdogan said that he blew himself up when he was regarding to be caught. However, the US did not recognize Turkey’s claim at the time. The US has not responded to the current ISIS confirmation either.
Husseini al-Qureshi is the fourth ISIS leader to be killed in four years. The first two leaders of ISIS, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and Abu Ibrahim al-Hashmi al-Qureshi, were killed during US military operations in 2019 and 2022. A third leader, Abu al-Hassan al-Hashimi al-Qureshi, was killed in clashes with the Free Syrian Army last year, the US confirmed.
At the same time, no information is currently available on Abu Hafs al-Hashimi al-Qureshi, who has been announced as the new head of ISIS.
