Abu al-Hassan al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi has been killed in battle
(Picture: AP)The leader of Islamic State has been killed in battle, a spokesman for the terror group has claimed.
Abu al-Hassan al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi became the second IS leader killed this year, the group’s spokesman said in audio released on Wednesday.
He gave no further details of the death.
The extremist group has been trying to rise again with its sleeper cells carrying out deadly attacks in Iraq and Syria.
Little had been known about al-Qurayshi, who took over the group’s leadership following the death of his predecessor, Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi, in a U.S. raid in February in northwest Syria.
The death marked a blow to the group that was defeated in Iraq in 2017 and in Syria two years later. The announcement by IS spokesman Abu Omar al-Muhajer came at a time when IS has been trying to carry out deadly attacks in parts of Syria and Iraq the extremists once declared a caliphate.
“He died fighting the enemies of God killing some of them before being killed like a man on the battlefield,” al-Muhajer said.
Al-Muhajer said that Abu al-Hussein al-Husseini al-Qurayshi was named as the group’s new leader.
“He is one of the veteran warriors and one of the loyal sons of the Islamic State,” al-Muhajer said. Little is also known about Abu al-Hussein al-Husseini al-Qurayshi.
Asked in Washington about al-Qurayshi’s death, the spokesman for the U.S. National Security Council, John Kirby, said: “We certainly welcome the news of the death of another ISIS leader. I don’t have any additional operational details to provide at this time.”
Al-Qurayshi is the third leader to be killed since founder Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was hunted down by the Americans in a raid in northwest in October 2019.
No one claimed responsibility for the killing.
