US-led coalition in Syria captures leader of so-called Islamic State group

Published connected 20/08/2025 - 15:15 GMT+2 •Updated 15:57

US-led conjugation forces captured a elder Islamic State commandant believed to beryllium nan group's leader successful a pre-dawn chopper ambush Wednesday adjacent Syria's Turkish border, sidesplitting 1 Iraqi national during nan operation.

The cognition took spot successful Atmeh, a municipality adjacent nan Turkish border, and an IS group commandant alleged to beryllium Abu Hafs al-Qurashi was taken away. At nan aforesaid time, an Iraqi national was killed, nan UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

The observatory said nan man captured had a French-speaking woman with him, and it is not known if she was taken by US forces aliases Syrian security, who later cordoned disconnected nan area.

The US subject has not responded to requests from nan media for comment, and it is not instantly clear if nan man captured is IS’ main leader.

Two years ago, nan IS group announced that a man called Abu Hafs al-Hashemi al-Qurashi had been named arsenic its caller leader aft Turkish authorities killed his predecessor.

The IS jihadist group collapsed distant from al-Qaeda much than a decade ago. It attracted supporters from astir nan world aft it declared a self-proclaimed "caliphate" successful 2014 successful ample parts of Syria and Iraq.

Despite its conclusion successful Iraq successful 2017 and successful Syria 2 years later, nan IS group's militants still transportation out deadly attacks in some countries and elsewhere.

All erstwhile IS leaders person adopted Al-Qurashi arsenic portion of their surname, implying a relationship to Quraish, nan people to which Islam’s Prophet Muhammad belonged.

The IS group claims its leaders hail from nan tribe, and al-Qurashi is utilized arsenic a nom de guerre -- each portion of nan panic organisation's propaganda, arsenic it is mostly invented and its fistful of leaders are unrelated, according to reports.

Its first leader, nan self-proclaimed emir and caliph Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, did not return connected nan Al-Qurashi name, contempt claiming he hailed from nan people without providing evidence.