Joe Biden claims Islamic State head killed during US raid in Syria

The leader of the Islamic State group was killed during an overnight raid carried out by US special forces in Syria’s northwestern Idlib province, President Joe Biden said on Thursday.

The raid targeted Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi, who took over as head of the militant group on Oct 31, 2019, just days after leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi died during a US raid in the same area.

A US official said al-Qurayshi died as al-Baghdadi did, by exploding a bomb that killed himself and members of his family, including women and children, as US forces approached.

The operation came as IS has been trying for a resurgence, with a series of attacks in the region, including a 10-day assault late last month to seize a prison.

US special forces landed in helicopters and assaulted a house in a rebel-held corner of Syria, clashing for two hours with gunmen, witnesses said. Residents described continuous gunfire and explosions that jolted the town of Atmeh near the Turkish border, an area dotted with camps for internally displaced people from Syria’s civil war.

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First responders reported that 13 people had been killed, including six children and four women.

Biden said in a statement that he ordered the raid to “protect the American people and our allies, and make the world a safer place." He planned to address the American public later Thursday morning.