It’s published
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The US-led coalition captured a senior Islamic state commander who was believed to be the group’s leader in a predawn helicopter attack near Syria’s Turkish border on Wednesday, killing one Iraqi citizen during the operation.
The operation took place in Art, a town near the Turkish border, and the commander of the IS Group, said to be Abu Hafs al-Klasi, was taken away. At the same time, Iraqi citizens were killed, the UK-based Syrian Human Rights Observatory said.
The observatory said the captured man had a French-speaking woman with him, and it is unclear whether she was taken to US troops that later closed the area or to Syrian security.
The US military has not responded to requests for comment from the media, and it is not immediately clear whether the captured man is a major leader.
Two years ago, the IS Group announced that a man called Abu Hafs al-Hashemi al-Krasi has been appointed as the new leader after Turkish authorities killed his predecessor.
IS Jihadist groups broke away from al-Qaeda over a decade ago. After proclaiming the self-proclaimed “caliphate” in Syria and most of Iraq in 2014, it attracted supporters from around the world.
Despite the defeat in Iraq in Syria in 2017 and two years later, IS Group militants still carry fatal attacks in both countries and elsewhere.
All previous leaders adopted Al-Quraisi as part of their surname, implying a connection with Qurais, the tribe that Muslim prophet Muhammad belonged to.
The IS Group claims its leader is from tribal origin, and Alkyurasi is used as the honorable guerre – all parts of the propaganda of terrorist organizations have been largely invented, and a handful of its leaders are irrelevant.
Its first leader, self-proclaimed Emir and caliph Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, did not take on the name of Al-Quraisi, despite claiming that they welcomed them from the tribe without providing evidence.
Additional sources •AP
