Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi has been killed in an overnight US special forces raid in north-western Syria, senior US officials say. “Thanks to the skill and bravery of our armed forces, we have taken off the battlefield Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi President Joe Biden said.
President Biden said all Americans involved had returned safely from the operation, which he declared would “protect the American people and our allies, and make the world a safer place” Al-Qurayshi detonated a bomb that killed him and members of his own family, administration officials told US media.
An AFP news agency correspondent who visited a two-Storey home that appeared to be targeted in the raid said it bore the scars of an intense battle – with blood-splattered walls, torn window frames, charred ceilings and a partly collapsed roof.
The White Helmets, also known as the Syria Civil Defence, said in a statement that its first responders reached the building at 03:15 and recovered the bodies of 13 people, including six children and four women after the Islamic State leader was killed.
They also found an injured girl whose other family members were killed in the raid, the organisation said. She was taken to hospital along with a man who was injured when he approached the building during the clashes to see what was happening, it added,
Syrian first responders said they found the bodies of 13 people after the raid. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based monitoring group, also put the death toll at 13, but said four children and three women were killed.