President Joe Biden announced that ISIS leader Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi was killed in a U.S. military operation in northwest Syria in an announcement released Thursday morning.
“Last night at my direction, U.S. military forces in northwest Syria successfully undertook a counterterrorism operation to protect the American people and our Allies, and make the world a safer place,” Biden said in a statement released by the White House. “Thanks to the skill and bravery of our Armed Forces, we have taken off the battlefield Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi—the leader of ISIS. All Americans have returned safely from the operation. I will deliver remarks to the American people later this morning. May God protect our troops.”
The White House also released a photo of Biden and his national security team watching the operation unfold from the Situation Room.
The news comes after Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby announced that a military counterterrorism operation concluded in Syria on Wednesday night.
“The mission was successful,” Kirby said. “There were no U.S. casualties.”
Biden is scheduled to speak about the operation at 9:30 a.m. ET.
Al-Hashimi took over the terrorist organization after Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was killed in 2019 in an operation authorized by former President Donald Trump. Al-Hashimi’s death follows a U.S. airstrike months ago which killed senior al-Qaeda leader Abdul Hamid al-Mata.
U.S. officials told
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