He blew himself up. After the death of Abu Hussein al-Qurachi, the alleged leader of the jihadist group Islamic State (IS), was announced by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday evening, the country’s official media reported more this Sunday about this operation carried out by the Turkish secret services in north-west Syria. They claim that the Daesh leader detonated his explosive belt.
According to the state news agency Anadolu, the jihadist leader lived a secluded life in a house with an “underground bunker” a few kilometers north of Jaindaris, in the province of Afrin, near Turkey. Images broadcast by several Turkish media outlets, including official TV channel TRT, show a two-story apartment building surrounded by fields, with walls partially destroyed.
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Anadolu also reports that a “call to surrender” was launched by the intervention forces and that it went unanswered. Members of the Turkish secret service then blew up the side walls and the doors at the back of the house to enter, the authority said, leading to the fatal gesture of their target.
Daesh is still launching attacks
On November 30, 2022, IS announced the death of its previous leader, Abu Hassan al-Hachimi al-Qourachi, without naming the circumstances. According to IS, he was immediately replaced by Abu Al-Hussein al-Husseini al-Qurachi.
In October 2019, Washington announced the death of ISIS’s first leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, during a US operation in Syria. His first successor, Abu Ibrahim al-Hachimi al-Qurachi, was also killed in Syria in February 2022.
Despite its territorial defeat, IS is still carrying out attacks in the country. At least 41 people, including 24 civilians, were killed in Syria in mid-April in two attacks on sand truffle collectors and herders attributed to the jihadist group.