The United States is so far declining to back up claims by Turkey that Ankara’s forces have killed the current leader of the Islamic State terror group following an operation in northern Syria.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan made the claim during an interview with broadcaster TRT on Sunday, saying IS leader Abu al-Hussein al-Husseini al-Qurashi “was neutralized as part of an operation by the Turkish national intelligence organization in Syria [Saturday].”
Turkish media, citing security sources, reported the operation took place in the northern Syrian town of Jandaris, in an area controlled by Turkish-backed rebel groups, and that the IS leader had been under surveillance for some time.
A U.S. official, speaking to VOA on the condition of anonymity, said that so far Washington has seen nothing to suggest the Islamic State leader has indeed been killed.
“We are unable to confirm this,” the official said. "Furthermore, we have no information that would support this claim."
Little is known about IS leader Abu al-Hussein beyond his kunya, or nom-du-guerre.
The first mention of his name came this past November, when the terror group proclaimed him as the new IS leader in the same message in which it announced the death of his predecessor, Abu al-Hassan al-Hashimi al-Qurashi. U.S. officials, however, have told VOA that unlike his predecessors, Abu al-Hussein is not part of the group that founded IS and is, instead, among the first of a new generation of leaders now charting the terror group’s course.
Source: Voice of America