ISIS leader Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi blew himself and his entire family up as American forces raised his home in Syria.
As troops raided the secretive lair of the terrorist he chose to kill himself and everyone with him, including women and children, in a cowardly move.
US President Joe Biden announced the news in a statement posted to the official POTUS Twitter account this afternoon.
“Last night at my direction, US military forces successfully undertook a counterterrorism operation,” the tweet read.
“Thanks to the bravery of our Armed Forces, we have removed from the battlefield Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi — the leader of ISIS.”
"I’ll deliver remarks regarding this operation later this morning," another tweet followed.
US special forces reportedly carried out what the Pentagon called a successful-counter-terrorism mission in northwest Syria early this morning, targeting the al-Quaeda-linked jihadist.
A senior US administration official confirmed al-Quraishi was killed in the raid.
"At the beginning of the operation the terrorist target exploded a bomb that killed him and members of his own family, including women and children," the administration official said.
After the killing of Islamic State founder Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in October 2019, the group named as his successor al-Quraishi, an Iraqi who was once held in US custody.
"While we are still assessing the results of this operation, this appears to be the same cowardly terrorist tactic we saw in the 2019 operation that eliminated al-Baghdadi," the official said.
A senior US official told the New York Times that Mr al-Qurayshi died at the beginning of the operation when he exploded a bomb that killed him and members of his own family, including women and children.
Biden planned to deliver remarks on the Syria operation later today, the White House said.
Syrian rescue workers said at least 13 people including six children and four women were killed by clashes and explosions that erupted after the raid began.
US forces were believed to be targeting a house in the Atmeh area, near the Turkish border.
Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby released a statement about the attack, declaring US Special Operations forces conducted a counter-terrorism mission this evening in northwest Syria.
"The mission was successful," he said.
"There were no US casualties. More information will be provided as it becomes available."
Residents said helicopters landed and heavy gunfire and explosions were heard during the raid, which began around midnight.
US forces used loud speakers to warn women and children to leave the area, they said.
A video taken by a resident showed the bodies of two apparently lifeless children and a man in the rubble of a building at the location.
Other footage showed rescue workers loading what appeared to be a small body wrapped in a white plastic sheet into an ambulance. Other body bags could be seen in the back of the vehicle.
Using head torches in the dark, the workers looked for remains through chunks of concrete, children's soft toys and women's clothing in the damaged building.
A kitchen was blackened and burnt, windows hung from their frames and plastic utensils were half melted.
A Syrian man who witnessed the raid said he went out of his house after midnight and saw aircraft in the sky.
"Ten minutes later we heard screams. 'Surrender, the house is surrounded,'" he said.
"We heard fire. There was shelling from airplanes and machine guns."
Another witness said he saw several bodies at the scene. "There was blood everywhere," he said.
He added that one US helicopters appeared to suffer a mechanical failure and was blown up by the US forces.
A rebel official who declined to be named said the jihadist who was the apparent target of the raid was with his family at the time.
Witnesses said the raid ended with aircraft, believed to be helicopters, leaving the site but unidentified reconnaissance planes were still hovering in the area.
