US President Joe Biden announced on Thursday that US special forces had conducted a raid in north-western Syria that resulted in the death of Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi, the head of Islamic State.
Al-Qurayshi took over as the head of IS days after the group's founder, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, died in a US raid in the same area in October 2019.
Like al-Baghdadi, al-Qurayshi killed himself and his family by using a bomb to avoid capture by the US.
Who was he?
Al-Qurayshi is believed to have been born in Iraq's Mosul in 1976. According to reports, his father was an Imam (religious teacher) He obtained a masters in Quranic studies from Mosul University and joined IS in 2007. He is believed to have enjoyed a rapid rise in the IS but was captured by US forces in Iraq in 2008.
Al-Qurayshi is believed to have revealed the names of around 20 IS members while in US custody. " Relatively little is known about al-Qurayshi’s activities for the next decade after he was released. But he reportedly oversaw the Islamic State group’s attempted genocide of Iraq’s minority Yazidis and had served as deputy to al-Baghdadi since at least 2018,” Associated Press reported.
Yazidi genocide
Biden referred to al-Qurayshi's role in orchestrating the genocide of Yazidis.
The targeting of Yazidis was among the most horrific crimes of the Islamic State during the brief period it held control of parts of northern Iraq. From August 2014, Islamic State engaged in mass killings, sexual violence, torture and enslavement of Yazidis, a largely Kurdish-speaking minority that practises a monotheistic religion and lives mostly in the Sinar region of Iraq.
According to data from Amnesty International in November 2021, “Over 5,000 people were killed and over 400,000 people were displaced from their homes. To date, more than 2,800 Yazidi women and children are still held captive by the IS or remain missing.”
The killing of al-Qurayshi is expected to bring focus back on the plight of Yazidis. Yazidi activist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Nadia Murad said in a statement, “There is more that must be done... The international community’s apathy towards these atrocities had left the community with little hope for justice and accountability. Until today.”
How the US tracked him
According to Associated Press, Biden had been briefed on the whereabouts of al-Qurayshi for several months. US officials learned he never left his house and communicated via couriers. In December, a tabletop model of the house was brought to the Situation Room of the White House for decision makers to get familiar.
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Al-Qurayshi and his family lived on the third floor, while a lower-ranking IS leader and his family were on the second floor, but the first floor housed civilians who were not aware of al-Qurayshi's presence. US officials felt they were meant to be human shields.
Associated Press described the operation. “In the first stages of the operation, US commandos approached the building and announced their presence. Residents and activists described witnessing a large ground assault, with US forces using megaphones urging women and children to leave the area. Much to the relief of US officials, the family on the first floor exited the building unharmed. The force of the explosion trigged by al-Qurayshi blew bodies out of the house. The IS lieutenant, who officials did not name, who lived on the second floor barricaded himself inside along with his wife and engaged in combat with the commandos who entered the home after the explosion. After a firefight, in which both were killed, officials said four children left the building,” Associated Press reported.