Five children were killed last week during an operation in northern Syria that killed Islamic State leader Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Quraishi, The Washington Post writes.
The publication notes that the American intelligence services and the military knew that al-Quraishi was in the house with his wives and children. However, the decision was made to attack the house.
The Pentagon said earlier that it did not intend to investigate the circumstances of the death of civilians during this operation.
At the same time, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said that during the operation to eliminate al-Quraishi, three civilians were killed: his wife and two children.
On the night of February 3, the American coalition forces carried out a special operation near the city of Atme in the Syrian province of Idlib, not far from the Turkish border. During the operation, special forces used several helicopters.
The British edition of the Daily Mail wrote that 24 soldiers of the Delta special forces took part in the operation. Arriving by helicopter, they surrounded a three-story house in Atma (Idlib province, northwestern Syria, near the border with Turkey), which, according to intelligence, was Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi, along with his family and security. The Americans addressed in Arabic through a megaphone to those in the house, inviting them to surrender. Shooting was heard: the head of security and his wife shot at the Americans (both were killed). Approximately 45 minutes later, an explosion occurred on the top floor of the house, as a result of which al-Qurayshi himself, his wives and children were killed. According to experts, the owner of the house set off a powerful explosive device, committing suicide. In total, 13 people died.
The New York Times wrote that ten civilians, including children, were evacuated from the site of the operation by the US military.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Iraqi intelligence and informants in Syrian refugee camps helped the Americans figure out the whereabouts of al-Quraishi.
A number of publications said that the US military was forced to blow up a helicopter (according to various sources, MH60 Black Hawk or Apache), which had “technical problems.” It is possible that the helicopter was damaged during the skirmish.
The Pentagon confirmed the loss of the helicopter during the operation. At the same time, they say that he was not shot down and did not crash during landing. Recall that a similar situation arose in 2011 during the operation to eliminate Osama bin Laden in Pakistan, when the Americans were forced to blow up a helicopter damaged during landing.
The US Department of Defense says there were no casualties among US military personnel.
Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said that US special forces last night conducted an anti-terrorist operation in northwestern Syria. “The operation was successful, there are no casualties among the Americans,” he said, refraining from further comments.
Charles Lister, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute in Washington, who spoke with local residents, says the operation lasted more than two hours. In his opinion, the purpose of the special forces was to capture the terrorist alive. Lister (without exact information) noted that this was the largest operation of its kind in Syria since the assassination of the head of the “Islamic State” Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and his “right hand”, IS spokesman Abu al-Hasan al- Muhajira in 2019.
Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi was called the successor of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. However, they said that Abdullah Kardash (Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi, aka Taha Abd ar-Rahim Abdullah Bakr al-Ghassani, Haji Abdul-Nasser Kirdash, Abu Muhammad), who was detained in May 2020 in Iraq. One way or another, after the arrest of Kardash, it was al-Quraishi who was the leader of ISIS. Although some experts expressed doubts about the reality of the identity of Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi.
On the identity of the liquidated IS leader
Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi was born in October 1976 in Tal Afar, Iraq (birth name Amir Muhammad Abdul Rahman al-Mauli al-Salbi). His parents were Iraqi Turkmen. He received an Islamic education at the University of Mosul. Then he served as an officer in the Iraqi army. After the fall of Saddam Hussein’s regime in 2003, he joined al-Qaeda, acting as a “religious commissar” and “Sharia lawyer”.
In 2004, al-Quraishi was detained by the US military and taken to Camp Bucca prison in southern Iraq, where he met with Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
The US leadership said that in 2008, while in prison, al-Quraishi was an informant for the US military. It is known that in 2014 he left the ranks of al-Qaeda, swearing allegiance to the Caliph of the Islamic State.
In June 2014, al-Quraishi played a key role in the ISIS takeover of Mosul. Soon after, he became one of the organizers of the genocide against the Yezidis, in particular, he was behind the massacre in Sinjar. After these events, he became the deputy leader of ISIS.
After the elimination of al-Baghdadi by the Americans in October 2019, the Shura Council elected al-Quraishi as IS caliph.
US authorities promised $10 million in exchange for information leading to al-Quraishi’s arrest.