A view of Mosul’s old city and buildings destroyed during earlier fighting with Islamic State militants, in Mosul, Iraq, February 1, 2022. REUTERS/Khalid al-Mousily/File Photo
DUBAI, Aug 3 (Reuters) – Islamic State on Thursday confirmed the death of its leader Abu Hussein al-Husseini al-Quraishi and named Abu Hafs al-Hashimi al-Quraishi as his replacement, the group’s spokesman said in a recording. No date published on his Telegram channel.
It appeared to be the first official announcement by the militant group about his fate since Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said in April that Turkish intelligence forces had killed him in syria.
Erdogan said that the Turkish national intelligence organization had been persecuting Quraishi for a long time.
Quraishi was killed during a firefight with Hayat Tahrir al Sham (HTS), the main Islamist group that dominates the last opposition stronghold in northwestern Syria, the spokesman said.
“Sheikh (Quraishi), may God have mercy on him, was killed after they (HTS) tried to take him captive. He collided with them with his arms until he died from his injuries,” the spokesman said, accusing the rival Islamist. group to act as agents of Turkish intelligence.
Islamic State, a shadow of the organization that once ruled a third of Iraq and Syria, gave no details about the new leader.
The movement reached its height in 2014 when its then-chief, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, declared the territory he controlled a caliphate.
He was rejected by adversaries in both countries, including a US-led coalition, and Baghdadi was killed during a US military operation in Syria in 2019.
Abu Hussein al-Husseini al-Quraishi took office in November 2022 after his predecessor was assassinated, also in Syria.
Islamic State militants continue to carry out insurgent attacks in both Syria and Iraq.
The thousands of remaining militants have been hiding in recent years mostly in remote areas inland in both countries, though they are still capable of carrying out hit-and-run attacks.
The US-led coalition along with a Kurdish-led alliance known as the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) are still carrying out raids against the Islamic State in Syria.
Reporting by Jana Choukeir, Nayera Abdallah, and Nadine Awadalla; Written by Enas Alashray; Edited by Andrew Heavens and Grant McCool
Our standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
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