ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Islamic State (ISIS) on Thursday announced that its leader Abu al-Hussein al-Husseini al-Qurashi had been killed during clashes with rebels in northwest Syria.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said late April that his country’s intelligence forces had been following Qurashi for “a long time” before killing him during an operation inside Syria. He did not reveal the location of the operation.
A spokesperson for the terror group confirmed in an audio message on its propaganda channels on Telegram messaging app that Qurashi has been killed near the Syrian city of Idlib but denied Turkey’s involvement.
The ISIS leader was killed by the Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) following “direct clashes between the leader and the rebels. “He fought them with his weapon until he was injured and succumbed to his injury,” claimed the spokesperson who was introduced as Abu Hazifah al-Ansari.
The HTS is the former Syrian branch of Al-Qaeda and is the prominent force among dozens of different rebel factions operating in the area. It has been internationally recognized as a terrorist organization.
The ISIS spokesperson also accused the HTS of having ties with Turkey and handing over the dead body of their leader to them.
Ansari said that the group has appointed Abu Hafs al-Hashimi al-Qurashi as their fifth leader.
HTS has not confirmed its alleged involvement in the operation.
The ISIS spokesperson also revealed that one of its main spokespersons, Abu Omar al-Muhajir, was arrested in the same operation and a large number of the terror group’s confidential documents were confiscated.
