Turkish Forces Kill IS Leader, Erdoğan Reports

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced on Sunday that Turkish intelligence forces had killed Abu Hussein al-Qurashi, leader of the Islamic State (IS) group.

In an interview with Turkish state media, Erdoğan said that al-Qurashi “was neutralized as part of an operation by the Turkish national intelligence organization in Syria yesterday.”

Syrian sources reported that the raid that killed al-Qurashi took place in the town of Jindires in northern Syria, which is controlled by Tukey-backed rebel forces. The raid took place overnight on Saturday.

Al-Qurashi had been the leader of IS since his predecessor, Abu al-Hasan al-Hashimi al-Qurashi, was killed in combat in 2022.

IS’s influence has drastically declined in recent years, with the group losing the last of the territory it had captured in Syria and Iraq in 2019. Despite the loss of territory, the group continues to carry out attacks on a smaller scale, and a US-led coalition, together with the Syrian Democratic Forces, a Kurdish-led alliance of militias, is still carrying out raids against IS fighters.

A US helicopter raid in Syria earlier this month killed at least three IS fighters, including senior leader Abd-al-Hadi Mahmud al-Haji Ali.