On Wednesday, November 30, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) confirmed that its supreme leader Abu Hasan-al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi had been killed in a clash. The Islamic terrorist group also announced the successor of Hashimi-al-Qurashi.
In an audio message on Telegram, a spokesperson of the terrorist organisation Abu Omar al-Muhajir said Hashimi was killed “in combat with enemies of Allah.” However, the audio did not reveal the date and circumstances of Hashimi’s death. According to the ISIS spokesperson, Abu-al-Husseini-al-Qurashi has been selected as the new leader of the terrorist outfit.
As per Western media reports, the US military has stated that Abu Hasan-al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi had died in October itself, at the hands of anti-government rebels in Southern Syria.
Notably, Hashimi al-Qurayshi was an Iraqi terrorist and the Islamic State’s third “caliph.” He was named caliph on March 10, 2022, a month after former IS leader Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurashi blew himself up by detonating his suicide vest to avert capture by US soldiers in Idlib province of Northern Syria. Abu Ibrahim was named as the IS leader after the death of his predecessor Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Baghdadi died during a US raid in Idlib province in October 2019.
It is notable here that the names of all ISIS ‘caliphs’ are nom de guerre, rather than their original names.
Baghdadi had claimed to belong to the Quraysh tribe and hence a descendant of Prophet Mohammed. However, there was no evidence to back his claim. Baghdadi’s death was announced via audio released by ISIS’ media arm, the al-Furqan Foundation. ISIS also confirmed the death of Abu Hassan al-Mujahir, the ISIS spokesperson since 2016 and Baghdadi’s close aide. Al-Mujahir was killed in Northern Syria in a joint operation between US troops and Kurdish forces, just hours after al-Baghdadi detonated his suicide vest.
Following an uprise in Iraq and Syria in 2014, during which it conquered vast stretches of territory, ISIS saw its self-proclaimed “caliphate” crumble under a wave of military operations.
ISIS was defeated in Iraq in 2017 and in Syria two years later, but the Sunni Muslim extremist group’s sleeper cells continue to carry out attacks in both countries and claim attacks elsewhere around the world.
