ISIS announces the killing of its leader and appointed a successor

The so called Islamic State (ISIS) announced on Wednesday the death of its leader, Abu al Hasan al Hashimi al Qurashi, without specifying the place or date of his death, in an audio recording attributed to its spokesman.

ISIS spokesman, Abu Omar al Muhajir, said in the recording, which was posted by jihadist social media accounts, that ISIS leader “was killed while he was coercing God’s enemies and fighting them”, as the exact circumstances of his death weren’t clear.

Al Muhajir announced the appointment of Sheikh Abu al Hussein al Husayni al Qurashi as the “Caliph of the Muslims” to be the fourth leader of the Islamic State.

Al Muhajir didn’t provide any details about the new leader, but he described him as one of the “veteran fighters,” calling on the extremist organization’s elements to pledge allegiance to him.

For its part, the Central Command of the US Army announced on Wednesday that the former ISIS leader was killed by opposition factions a month and a half ago in Daraa Governorate in southern Syria.

Hours ago, the extremist organization announced the death of its leader, without specifying the date or place of his death.

A spokesman for the Central Command (Centcom), Joe Buccino, said in a statement that Abu al Hassan al Hashimi al Qurashi was killed in mid-October “in an operation carried out by the Free Syrian Army,” a designation that was given during the first years of the conflict to the armed opposition factions against the Syrian regime, and is still used by Washington to refer to those factions.

The spokesman pointed out that the operation was carried out in Daraa governorate, which is controlled by the Syrian regime forces and in which former opposition factions that have reconciled with Damascus are spread.

The spokesman didn’t explain the circumstances of the killing of the leader of the organization and how the operation was carried out.

Buccino said that the killing of al Hashemi constitutes a “new blow” to the extremist organization, but pointed out that it still poses a threat to the region.

The Islamic State, which in 2014 took control of large areas in Syria and Iraq, suffered a first defeat in Iraq and then in Syria.