US-Led Coalition Captures Senior IS Member in Syria Operation

Beirut, Aug 20 (AP) - A US-led coalition apprehended a senior member of the Islamic State group in northwest Syria on Wednesday, as reported by state media and a war monitor. The identity of the individual as the IS supreme leader remains uncertain.

The US military did not provide a response to a request for comment by The Associated Press.

The operation, involving the deployment of troops via helicopters, occurred in the early hours in Atmeh town near the Turkish border. An IS commander, known as Abu Hafs al-Qurayshi and identified as an Iraqi citizen, was captured, while another Iraqi citizen was killed, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The Observatory noted that the captured individual was accompanied by a French-speaking woman. It remains unclear whether she was taken by US forces or Syrian security forces, who subsequently secured the area.

Two years prior, IS announced that a man named Abu Hafs al-Hashemi al-Qurayshi was appointed as its new leader following the death of his predecessor at the hands of Turkish authorities.

On Wednesday, Syrian state TV quoted an unnamed security official stating that the targeted Iraqi individual, known as Ali, is actually Salah Noman. It was reported that Noman was residing in an apartment with his wife, son, and mother, and was killed during the raid.

The inconsistency in names reported by state media and the war monitor remains unexplained.

IS, which split from al-Qaida more than a decade ago, gained global support after proclaiming a so-called caliphate in 2014 across vast regions of Syria and Iraq. Despite its territorial defeat in Iraq in 2017 and Syria in 2019, IS militants continue to execute deadly attacks in both countries and beyond.

The title "al-Qurayshi" is not the actual name of IS leaders but is derived from Quraish, the tribe of Islam's Prophet Muhammad. IS claims its leaders are descendants of this tribe, and “al-Qurayshi” is part of their nom de guerre.

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