Leader of terrorist group ISIS, Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi has blown himself up during a U.S. raid in Syria.
Gatekeepers News reports that the White House on Thursday, said the Islamic State militant group leader detonated a bomb that killed himself and several members of his family.
Al-Qurayshi was on the third floor of a building in northern Syria when U.S. special operators arrived.
He was previously a senior member of ISIS’ predecessor organisation, al-Qaeda in Iraq, before joining the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
Al-Qurayshi who rose through the ranks of the terror group, was named ISIS leader in October 2019, a few days after his predecessor, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was killed during a U.S. raid.
President Joe Biden in an address from the White House on Thursday, said “As our troops approached to capture the terrorist, and in a final act of desperate cowardice he chose to blow himself up rather than face justice for the crimes he has committed.
“Thanks to the bravery of our troops, this horrible terrorist leader is no more. Our forces carried out the operation with their signature preparation and precision.”
Biden added that all U.S. service members involved in the mission returned safely from the operation.
In an effort to minimise civilian casualties, the U.S. President said he ordered an air assault on the compound instead of an airstrike.
He added that the U.S. military was still compiling a report on the raid and was unable to give an exact number of civilian deaths from the blast.
However, one of the first tallies of civilian casualties on Thursday came from UNICEF, which reported that at least six children had been killed and one severely wounded in the fighting.
U.S. officials disclosed that although the raid had been planned for months, President Biden was first briefed on the intelligence and potential operation in December.
An official said, “The president was regularly updated by his national security team on the planning details of this operation to include a briefing in the Oval Office earlier this week.”
Biden, who approved the operation on Tuesday, watched the two-hour mission from the White House Situation Room alongside Vice President Harris and members of the President’s national security team.
Biden said, “I’m grateful for the immense courage and skill and determination of our U.S. forces who skillfully executed this incredibly challenging mission,” adding that “The members of our military are the solid steel backbone of this nation, ready to fly into danger at a moment’s notice to keep our country and the American people safe, as well as our allies.”
