Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan announced that the Turkish intelligence forces killed Islamic State leader Abu Hussein al-Qurashi in Syria. The operation was conducted in the northern Syrian town of Jandaris, which is controlled by Turkey-backed rebel groups. The Syrian National Army, an opposition group, did not comment on the incident. The raid happened after the intelligence organization had pursued Qurashi for a long time.
IS selected al-Qurashi as its leader in November 2022 after the previous IS leader was killed in an operation in southern Syria. Islamic State took over vast swathes of Iraq and Syria in 2014, but lost its control on the territory after campaigns by U.S.-backed forces in Syria and Iraq, as well as Syrian forces backed by Iran, Russia and various paramilitaries. Its remaining thousands of militants have in recent years mostly hid out in remote hinterlands of both countries, though they are still capable of carrying out major hit-and-run attacks.
The U.S.-led coalition alongside a Kurdish-led alliance known as the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) is still carrying out raids against IS officials in Syria. In some cases, senior IS figures have been targeted while hiding out in areas where Turkey has major influence.
