Turkey "IS Leader Killed in Syria"

Turkey announced that it has killed a figure believed to be the leader of the extremist armed group Islamic State (IS) in Syria.

According to AFP and other sources, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an stated in a TV speech on the 30th of last month (local time), "The day before, Turkey's National Intelligence Organization (MIT) neutralized Abu Hussein al-Qurashi, suspected to be the IS leader, through an operation in Syria."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Here, "neutralize" is a term encompassing situations such as the terrorist's surrender, killing, or capture, and many foreign media outlets reported that Turkish authorities killed the terrorist.

Abu Hussein al-Qurashi is the successor to the previous leader Abu Hasan al-Hashimi al-Qurashi, whose death was announced on November 30 last year. It is reported that the Turkish government killed him by raiding an abandoned farm in Jindires, Afrin, northern Syria, an area controlled by rebel forces.

If the IS leader has indeed been killed, this would be the fourth time. IS founder Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was eliminated by U.S. special forces in 2019, and his successors Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurashi and Abu Hasan al-Hashimi al-Qurashi were killed in attacks by U.S. forces and the Free Syrian Army (FSA) in February and October of last year, respectively.

Once effectively controlling one-third of Iraq and Syria, IS was defeated in 2019 by Syrian and Iraqi forces supported by the U.S., Russia, and Iran. It is currently reported to maintain a strength of several thousand members. The remaining forces are hiding in the mountainous areas of Iraq and Syria, conducting guerrilla activities.