The White House said US special forces launched a nighttime airstrike in northwestern Syria on Thursday, during which the head of the Islamic State group detonated himself and his family.
The operation was the biggest blow to the jihadist organization as its predecessor, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, was killed in a similar raid in the same area of Idlib in 2019.
“Thanks to the skill and bravery of our armed forces, we have removed the leader of ISIS, Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurashi, from the battlefield,” US President Joe Biden said in a statement.
A senior White House official, speaking on condition of anonymity ahead of an address from Biden, said Qureshi detonated a bomb during a raid on the house where he was staying in the city of Atme.
While doing so, he also killed members of his own family, including women and children, the officer said.
An Iraqi Qurashi of Turkmen-majority Tal Afar, also known as Emir Mohamed Saeed Abd al-Rahman al-Mawla, replaced Baghdadi after his death in a US raid in October 2019.
The US government had offered a $10 million reward for providing information to Qureshi, one of the world’s most wanted men.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights War Monitor said civilians were among at least 13 killed in the operation, which saw elite US forces make a dangerous helicopter landing near Atme.
“At least 13 people were killed during the operation, including four children and three women,” the head of the observatory, Rami Abdel Rahman, told AFP.
rent paid
Initial reports after the operation near the city of Atame suggested that the target may have been a senior jihadist close to IS’s rival group al-Qaeda.
AFP correspondents were able to visit the house where Qureshi blew himself up.
Before the identity of the raid target was revealed, the owner of the building where Qureshi was staying told his tenant to lead a normal life.
The landlord, who gave his name only as Abu Ahmed, told AFP: “This man lived here for 11 months. I didn’t notice anything suspicious or anything.”
He said, “He would come and pay the rent and leave. He lived with his three children and his wife. His widowed sister and her daughter were living over them.”
An eyewitness told AFP he was woken up by the sound of a helicopter.
“Then we heard small explosions. Then we heard loud explosions,” said Abu Ali, a displaced Syrian living in Atame.
“We’re just coming into this house… to get rid of you terrorists,” the man said in his loudspeaker messages, quoting the US military.
Abdel Rahman said US helicopters took off from a military base in the Kurdish-controlled city of Kobani.
He said US-trained members of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces joined the operation.
Farhad Shami, the head of the US-backed SDF’s media office, said the operation targeted “the most dangerous international terrorists”.
Kurdish forces also took part in raids against Baghdadi in 2019.
fierce battle
The two-story building of raw cinder blocks bore the scars of a fierce battle, with torn window frames, burnt roofs and a partially collapsed roof.
In some rooms, walls were splattered with blood and floors were stained, foam mattresses and broken doors were streaked.
US special forces have conducted several operations in recent months against high-value jihadist targets in the Idlib region.
The area, the last enclave to actively oppose Bashar al-Assad’s government, is home to more than 3 million people and is dominated by jihadists.
The region is administered mostly by a body loyal to Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, a group led by former members of the suffragettes of al-Qaeda in Syria.
Atme is home to a sprawling camp for families displaced by the decades-old conflict and was being used by jihadists as a hiding place among civilians, experts warn.
On October 23, the US military announced the assassination of senior al-Qaeda leader Abdul Hamid al-Matar.
Army Major John Rigsby, spokesman for Central Command, said at the time, “Al-Qaeda uses Syria as a safe haven to rebuild, coordinate with external allies, and plan external operations.”
Syrian government forces and their main military backer Russia have repeatedly launched attacks against jihadists and other rebel groups in the Idlib region.
However, about two years ago, an armistice agreement was reached by Moscow and Ankara, the region’s two main foreign powers, which is still officially in force.
Assad has long insisted that his goal was to capture the whole of Syria, including Idlib province, but the outline of the jihadist-run enclave has remained largely unchanged since the beginning of 2020.
Two weeks after the death of the top leader of the jihadist group, the group launched a major attack to spring IS fighters from a Kurdish-run prison in northeastern Syria.
Hundreds were killed in IS’s most high-profile operation since the death of its “caliphate” nearly three years ago.
Read | Conflict in Syria as US-led troops launch anti-jihadist campaign: Monitor