Daesh Announces Death of Its Leader Abu Hussein Al-Qurashi, Names Successor

By Staff, Agencies

The Daesh [Arabic acronym for the terrorist ‘ISIS/ISIL group] has confirmed the death of its leader, Abu Hussein Al-Husseini Al-Qurashi, and named Abu Hafs Al-Hashimi Al-Qurashi as his replacement.

The group said on Thursday that its leader had been killed in “direct clashes” with the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group in Idlib province in rebel-held northwestern Syria.

The announcement was made by an ISIL spokesman in a recorded message on its channels on the Telegram messaging app, without specifying when he was killed.

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in April that Turkish intelligence forces had killed the leader in Syria.

“The suspected leader of Daesh, codename Abu Hussein Al-Qurashi, has been neutralized in an operation carried out… by the MIT [National Intelligence Organization] in Syria,” Erdogan said at the time, using the Arabic acronym for ISIL.

Turkish media released images of a fenced-off building in the middle of a field where it said he was hiding in Syria’s Afrin region.

Afrin lies in Aleppo province – neighboring Idlib – in an area controlled by Turkish-backed militants.

However, the ISIL spokesman claimed on Thursday that Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, which controls parts of Idlib province, had killed the group’s chief and handed his body to Turkey.

ISIL accuses HTS – which has not claimed any operation targeting the ISIL leader – of working in Ankara’s interests.

Turkey’s Anadolu state news agency said at the time that the MIT conducted a four-hour operation during which it located the ISIL leader.

The ISIL leader set off his suicide vest when he realized he was about to be captured, Anadolu said, adding that no Turkish operatives were killed or injured.

In November last year, ISIL said its previous leader, Abu Hasan al-Hashimi al-Qurashi, had been killed.