President Joe Biden announced Thursday that U.S. special counterterrorism forces were able to track down and kill ISIS leader Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi during a raid in northwest Syria. The raid was the largest U.S. counterterrorism operation in the country since 2019 when operatives killed ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
White House officials detailed the raid during a press conference, stating that Qurayshi died by suicide. The ISIS leader reportedly blew himself up as U.S. forces approached his location. Officials said the blast had killed multiple civilians, including Qurayshi's family.
Officials said the terrorist target had triggered a device that killed him and members of his own family, including women and children. The Pentagon said the operation had resulted in zero U.S. casualties.
Biden said that Qurayshi's death means that there is one less major terrorist leader from the battlefield. He added that instead of an airstrike, officials chose to deploy Special Forces to minimize civilian casualties. Biden thanked the soldiers for their bravery and for getting rid of the "horrible" terrorist leader.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki echoed Biden's statement and said that Qurayshi deals a devasting blow to the terrorist organization. He added that it also reaffirms the U.S.'s commitment to fighting against terrorism.
The mission was carried out by U.S. Central Command, which oversees military operations and activities in the Middle East. The Pentagon said it would launch a more detailed investigation of the raid's aftermath.
Officials said they knew about Qurayshi's presence at the compound in northwestern Syria months ago. He reportedly never left the compound and stayed in the third floor of a building with his family. Qurayshi had allegedly used a network of couriers to manage the group's terror campaign. Families who had no ties to ISIS resided on the ground floor, unaware of the terrorist living just two floors above them.
When operational commanders informed Biden in December, he instructed the Pentagon to take care to avoid civilian casualties. This was a difficult task to achieve as Qurayshi had purposely surrounded himself with children and families for protection.
During a briefing on Thursday, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said that four civilians and five militants were killed during the raid. Those killed included Qurayshi's deputy, his deputy's wife, and two armed guards who exchanged fire with operatives. Kirby said U.S. Special Forces were able to rescue 10 people from the building, including eight minors. He added that the entire raid took only about two hours from start to finish.
The White Helmets, a Syrian civil defense organization, said that 13 people were killed during the raid, including six children and four women. The reason for such a large disparity between the Pentagon's statistics and the White Helmets remains unknown.
