The authenticity of the message could not be initially verified. But it was spread through the extremists’ usual social media channels.
Who was behind the battle name Abu al-Hassan al-Hashemi al-Quraishi has yet to be revealed. He had been named leader in March. He succeeded Ibrahim al-Hassan al-Hashemi al-Quraishi, who was killed in a US military operation in northwest Syria in February. According to Washington, he blew himself up to avoid being held accountable for his actions.
The US government said it had seen the IS announcement. National Security Council communications director John Kirby said: “We welcome news of the death of another IS leader.” However, he cannot comment on operational details at this time.
IS expert Hassan Hassan, however, doubted the authenticity of the message. Jihadists often fake the deaths of their leaders and commanders to reduce pressure on intelligence and security forces. But he also explained on Twitter that the IS leader “could have been accidentally killed in an attack or in battles”.
In 2014, IS took control of large parts of Iraq and Syria. Beyond state borders, al-Baghdadi proclaimed a caliphate with himself at its head. In 2017, Iraqi and international forces ended what had been internationally condemned as a brutal Islamic regime in Iraq.
ISIS was defeated in Syria in March 2019. Since then, the militia has been blamed for attacks, for example in Afghanistan, where it is among the enemies of the radical Islamic Taliban, which has been in power since 2021. However, IS cells are still active in both countries. Observers warn that jihadists could expand their influence again.