Posted by 
ISIS confirmed the death of its leader Abu Ibrahim al-Qurayshi in a statement Thursday and named Abu Hasan al-Hashemi al-Qurayshi as his replacement.
ISIS extremists have “pledged allegiance” to “Abu Hasan al-Hashemi al-Qurayshi as an emir over believers and the caliph of Muslims,” the group’s spokesperson said in an audio recording.
For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.
The recording confirmed the death of the former ISIS chief along with the group’s ex-spokesman.
“Abu Ibrahim al-Qurayshi and the official [ISIS] group spokesman… Abu Hamza al-Qurayshi…were killed in recent days,” the new spokesperson said.
The former leader blew himself up in early February during a US raid in northwest Syria, according to Washington, in an area controlled by rival extremists.
Abu Ibrahim al-Qurayshi, who led ISIS from 2019, was an ethnic Turkmen from the Iraqi city of Tal Afar. He replaced ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who was killed in a US raid in October that year.
Little is known about the new leader, who will serve as the group’s third chief since its inception.
He rises to the helm at a time when the group has been weakened by US-backed operations in Iraq and Syria aiming to thwart extremists’ resurgence.
The remnants of ISIS in Syria mostly went to their desert hideouts from which they continue to harass Kurdish-led forces and Syrian government troops.
A UN report last year estimated that around 10,000 ISIS fighters remained active across Iraq and Syria.
Read more:
Lebanon thwarts three attacks by ISIS-linked militants
Poverty, fear drive exodus from Syria’s one-time ISIS capital
ISIS suicide bomber of Pakistan mosque who killed 64 people was Afghan: Police
Source: Alarabiya
