A US Army Central Command spokesman revealed on Wednesday that Free Syrian Army forces killed ISIS leader Abu al-Hasan al-Hashimi al-Qurashi in mid-October.
The spokesman, Colonel Joe Buccino, said his death “was a new blow for Isis”.
Buccino stressed that ISIS continues to pose a threat to the region and that “the central command continues to focus with allies and partners to defeat the organization”.
The White House also confirmed that the killing of the ISIS leader was not the result of any American action. He added that he was “delighted with the rapid demise of successive ISIS leaders”.
On Wednesday, ISIS announced the death of its leader, Abu al-Hasan al-Hashimi al-Qurashi, without specifying the place or date of his death, in an audio recording attributed to its spokesman.
The spokesman, Abu Omar al-Muhajir, announced the appointment of Abu al-Hussain al-Husayni al-Qurashi as the successor to the slain ISIS leader.
US forces have managed to get rid of several leaders of the extremist organization in killing operations, most notably the two former leaders of the Islamic State, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in October 2019, and then Abu Ibrahim al-Qurashi last February in Idlib governorate in northwestern Syria.
In July, the United States announced that it had killed the leader of the Islamic State in Syria, Maher al-Akal, in a US drone strike, and the Pentagon Central Command described him as “one of the top five leaders ” in the extremist organization.
On October 6, US forces killed ISIL leader Rakan al-Shammari in a special operation near Qamishli in northern Syria.
A day later, the US military said it carried out an airstrike in northern Syria that killed two ISIS members, including a leader of the organization named Abu Hashem al-Amawi.
