ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi on Friday welcomed the overnight US operation that permanently compromised Islamic State (ISIS) leader in northwest Syria, highlighting the role of Iraq in the assassination.
“We welcome the elimination of Daesh’s leader,” Kadhimi said in a tweet, using the Arabic acronym for ISIS.
US forces flew over the town of Atmeh in north of Idlib where the head of ISIS Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi was hiding on Thursday night. US President Joe Biden announced Qurayshi’s elimination later in the day.
"As our troops approached to capture the terrorist, in a final act of desperate cowardice, with no regard to the lives of his own family or others in the building, he chose to blow himself up," Biden said in a press conference.
Kurdistan Region President Nechrivan Barzani commended the US forces for their successful mission on Friday morning.
"The killing of Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi is a major blow to ISIS leadership and an act of justice for the victims of the terrorist group’s crimes," Barzani said in a tweet.
Iraq on Thursday night claimed a role in the operation. The Iraqi intelligence provided the US with “accurate” information in the overnight raid, Iraq’s top military spokesperson Yehia Rasool said.
PM Kadhimi also underlined the Iraqi forces role in the operation.
“Iraq’s Security Forces have played a pivotal role in killing and capturing Daesh [ISIS] terrorists inside Iraq and gathering intelligence that finally led to the head of this terrorist organization,” he said.
Qurayshi’s death comes three years after the US killed former ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in a similar-style attack in Idlib.
ISIS swept across Iraq and Syria in the summer of 2014. Minority groups especially suffered under the terror group's rule, including Yazidis, Shabaks, and Christians. A United Nations investigation found there is evidence ISIS committed genocide against the Yazidis.
The Free Yezidi Foundation (FYF) also welcomed the operation, saying Qurayshi was “resposinble for the Yazidi genocide.”
Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani also congratulated the US for the operation.
Updated at 11:09 am
