The United States has said that the head of the terrorist group ISIS blew himself up and his family during a special forces operation in northern Syria.
Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi was heading the al-Qurayshi group after the death of ISIS founder Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi during a US operation in 2019, according to a Reuters report.
US President Joe Biden said in a statement on Twitter that "thanks to the capability and bravery of our armed forces, we have eliminated the leader of ISIS on the battlefield."
"All Americans have returned safely after the operation," Biden said.
Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi took over the leadership after the death of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi but he was working behind the scenes but led his group during the self-proclaimed caliphate and at that time he controlled many areas of Syria and Iraq where Millions lived.
ISIS was defeated three years ago, after which there have been attacks on various occasions in Iraq and Syria.
A senior US administration official said Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qureshi had been killed during the operation.
He said that at the beginning of the operation, the terrorist leader detonated a bomb, as a result of which he and his women and children were also killed.
US Special Forces operation kills 13, including children
Earlier, officials said a US special forces airstrike in the northwestern Syrian region of Idlib had killed at least 13 people, including women and children.
According to the AFP news agency, US special forces targeted the most wanted terrorists in an extraordinary air strike in the northwestern part of Syria, which Washington called a successful operation.
The report said that US forces in Idlib carried out the largest operation of its kind since 2019, when ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was killed.
The fresh operation in Atma area of Idlib lasted for about 2 hours and was completed immediately.
The report says that eyewitnesses and names circulating on social media suggest that the US operation was not aimed at targeting ISIS terrorists but at its rival group, al-Qaeda.
A statement from Washington did not provide further details on the operation and said details would be released later.
A spokesman for the US Central Command, John Kirby, said in a statement that US special forces under the command of US Central Command had carried out an operation in northwestern Syria as part of an anti-terrorism mission.
He said without elaborating that the mission was successful and that there were no US military casualties.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said seven civilians were among the 13 people killed in the operation and had seen a US military helicopter land near Atma.
The head of the agency, Rami Abdul Rehman, said 13 people had been killed in the operation, including four children and three women.
The AFP reporter also inspected the homes of US Special Forces victims located on the outskirts of Atma.
An eyewitness said he heard the sound of a helicopter and then an explosion and then we heard a loud explosion.
He added that US special forces had told civilians not to worry.
"The U.S. forces said in a statement over a loudspeaker that we were only coming to this house to protect you from the terrorists," he said.
According to international organizations, the civil war in Syria, which began with anti-government protests in 2011, has so far killed an estimated 370,000 people, while millions have been displaced and many more Have moved
