Following the death of his predecessor last autumn, Abu Hussein al-Kurayshi is believed to have assumed leadership of the IS group.

President Erdogan said on state-run TRT Turk on Saturday that the IS leader had been “neutralised” in a Turkish intelligence operation carried out by the MIT.

The MIT intelligence agency has been monitoring Qurayshi for an extended period of time, Mr. Erdogan said. He added that the fight against terrorist organisations will continue without any discrimination. “We will continue our fight without discrimination,” he said. “The fight against terrorism will continue without discrimination.”

According to Syrian sources quoted by Reuters, Qurayshi was killed in a military operation conducted by the Free Syrian Army in the south-west of Syria. The operation was reportedly conducted in the town of Yandaris, near the Turkish border, in late November.

In February 2022, Qurayshi took over the leadership of the jihadist group after its previous leader, Abu Ibrahim al- Hashimi al-Quirayshi, detonated a bomb and killed himself and his family after a gunfight with US special forces. At the time, US President Joe Biden noted that the operation had removed a major terrorist threat from the world.

The jihadist group once held an area of 88,000 square kilometers (34,000 square miles) stretching from northern-eastern Syria to northern Iraq, and imposed its oppressive regime on nearly eight million people.

While IS was ousted from its last remaining foothold in 2019, the United Nations warned in July that the group remains a threat.

IS has an estimated 6,000 to 10,000 fighters operating in Syria and Iraq. Most of these fighters are based in rural areas, and the group continues to launch hit-and-miss attacks, ambushes, and roadside bombs.

Is regional affiliates also operate in other conflict zones around the world. According to the United Nations, the most active and well-connected networks are in Afghanistan, Somalia, and the Lake Chad Basin.

SOURCE :- BBC