special forces of US kill the leader of Islamic State jihadist group (IS) in a raid in northwestern Syriathe president said Thursday Joe Biden.
A senior U.S. government official said Abu Ibrahim al-Hashemi al-Quraishi he died in the operation. Rescue workers said at least 13 people, including women and children, were also killed.
“Thanks to the skill and bravery of our armed forces, we have removed the leader of IS from the battlefield … All Americans have returned safely from the operation,” Biden said in a statement.
Quraishi succeeded Abu Bakr al-Baghdadiwho led the group as it took control of regions of Syria and Iraq and ruled millions of people at the height of its self-proclaimed caliphate.
Baghdadi was killed in October 2019 by US troops, including in an invasion of northern Syria, after fighters from the Islamic State They were defeated on the battlefield. The group is now carrying out insurgent attacks in Iraq and Syria.
The Pentagon’s Press Secretary John Kirbyearlier described Thursday’s raid as a successful counter-terrorism mission, saying there were no U.S. casualties.
Syrian aid workers say at least 13 people, including six children and four women, were killed in clashes and explosions after the raid began, targeting a house in the Atmeh area, near the Syrian border, Turkey.
The United States military procedures to prevent civilian casualties is currently under scrutiny following a false drone attack on Afghanistan which the Pentagon initially considered a success.
Several jihadist groups linked to Al-Qaeda operating in northwestern Syria, the last major stronghold of the rebels fighting the president Bashar al-Assad in the decade-long Syrian war. Leaders of the Islamic State group also hid in the area.
Residents said the helicopters landed and loud gunshots and explosions were heard during the raid which started around midnight. U.S. forces used loudspeakers to warn women and children to leave the area, they said.
Reference-www.eleconomista.com.mx