The Islamic State militant organization stated on Wednesday (Nov 30) that its chief Abu Hasan al-Hashimi al-Qurashi has been killed in conflict and introduced a substitute to move up its final sleeper cells.
A spokesman for IS stated Hashimi, an Iraqi, changed into killed “in fight with enemies of God”, with out elaborating at the date or situations of his death.
The US navy’s Central Command (CENTCOM) stated Hashimi were killed in an operation completed with the aid of using rebels of the Free Syrian Army in Daraa province in southern Syria in mid-October.
Daraa province is by and large managed with the aid of using Syrian authorities forces and rebels who’ve reached understandings with the regime. In mid-October, Damascus stated it had released a joint operation towards IS with former rebels withinside the south of the province.
Using an opportunity acronym for IS, US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby stated: “We welcome the statement that every other chief from ISIS is not on foot withinside the face of the Earth.”
Speaking in an audio message, the IS spokesman stated Abu al-Hussein al-Husseini al-Qurashi were named because the organization’s new chief.
Qurashi refers to a tribe of the Prophet Mohammed, from whom IS leaders need to declare descent.
“CALIPHATE”
After a meteoric upward thrust in Iraq and Syria in 2014 that noticed it overcome considerable swathes of territory, IS noticed its self-proclaimed “caliphate” disintegrate beneathneath a wave of offensives.
The Sunni Muslim extremist organization’s austere and terror-ridden rule changed into marked with the aid of using beheadings and shootings.
It changed into defeated in Iraq in 2017 and in Syria years later, however sleeper cells nonetheless perform assaults in each countries.
The organization or its branches have additionally claimed assaults somewhere else this yr, which include in Afghanistan, Iran and Israel.
The spokesman did now no longer offer info on the brand new chief, however stated he changed into a “veteran” militant and known as on all organizations dependable to IS to pledge their allegiance to its fourth chief.
IS’s preceding chief, Abu Ibrahim al-Qurashi, changed into killed in February this yr in a US raid in Idlib province in northern Syria.
His predecessor Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi changed into killed, additionally in Idlib, in October 2019.
“GLOBAL THREAT”
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre could now no longer touch upon any US involvement withinside the operation that brought about Hashimi’s death.
“We are thrilled to peer the elimination of ISIS leaders in such short succession,” she informed reporters “The United States stays dedicated to countering the worldwide danger from ISIS and stands equipped to paintings with global partners.”
The IS management have suffered repeated blows from diverse quarters this yr.
In October, US forces killed a “senior” IS member in a pre-sunrise raid in northeastern Syria, CENTCOM stated on the time.
The US leads a navy coalition fighting IS in Syria.
The raid targeted “Rakkan Wahid al-Shammari, an ISIS authentic recognised to facilitate the smuggling of guns and fighters”, CENTCOM stated.
It stated a later air strike had killed different senior IS members.
In July, the Pentagon stated it had killed Syria’s pinnacle IS militant in a drone strike withinside the north of the country.
US Central Command stated he were “one of the pinnacle five” IS leaders.
Turkey stated in September that safety forces had arrested a “senior executive” of IS referred to as Abu Zeyd, whose actual call changed into Bashar Khattab Ghazal al-Sumaidai.
Turkish media stated there had been a few indicators Sumaidai could have been the IS chief.
Thousands of suspected militants and their spouse and children are nonetheless detained in camps in Syria and prisons in Iraq.
In January, IS released a first-rate assault on a jail housing fellow militants in northeastern Syria, in a jailbreak strive that precipitated per week of lethal clashes.
Hundreds of IS prisoners, which include senior leaders, had been notion to have escaped, with a few crossing to neighbouring Turkey or Turkish-held territory in northern Syria, the Britain-primarily based totally Syrian Observatory for Human Rights stated.
The Pentagon warned Tuesday that a threatened Turkish floor operation towards Kurdish objectives in Syria could “seriously jeopardise” profits made withinside the conflict towards IS.