Syria: ISIS declares death of its leader in clash with Hayat Tahrir al-Sham in Idlib

On August 4, 2023, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) or ISIL, announced that a prominent leader from the group Abu Hassan Al Hussein-Al Qureshi died in clashes that occurred in northwestern Syria. The group announced the recorded statement on the Telegram App.

Hassan was killed in a direct clash with the jihadist group Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham in Idlib province. The group has selected a new leader named  Abu Hasf al Hashimi as al Qurashi as the successor.

Previous Leadership

As per the terror group’s previous announcement, before, Abu-Al Hassan, the last leader, or his predecessor Abu Hasaan al Hashimi Quraishi, was killed in February 2022 during a raid in Idlib province. The US said that he was killed in an operation by the Rebel Free Syrian Army in southwest Syria in modern October 2022.

The first caliphate of ISIS, known as Abu Bakr-al-Baghdadi, was also killed in Idlib in the month of October 2019.

Remarks of Tayyip Erdogan

Tayyip Erdogan told the broadcast TRT Turk that the ISIL leader was neutralized in an MIT intelligence agency operation on August 5, 2023. The MIT intelligence agency had been following Quraishi for a long time, Erdogan said. “ We will continue our struggle with terrorist organisations without any discrimination,” he added, providing no further details. The MIT is a National Intelligence Organisation of Turkey

In late April 2023, the President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, said that “the suspected leader of Daesh codenamed Abu Hussein-al-Qureshi has been neutralized in an operation carried out by the MIT in Syria.” The Turkish Media released images of a fenced-off building in the middle of the field and where it said he was hiding in the Afrin Region of war-torn Syria.

Turkey’s Anadolu State News Agency said that at the time, the MIT conducted a four-hour operation during which it located the ISIS leader.

All About Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS)

Based in Syria’s northern Idlib province, the Hayat Tahrir Al Sham or the HTS, is one of the few remaining groups opposing Bashar Al-Assad’s regime. The former Al Qaeda Regime affiliate now governs approximately two million people, half of whom are internally displaced Syrians.

Over the last three years, the HTS has consolidated power within its territory and has sought to convince the international community that it no longer meets its pariah status as a terrorist organisation. It was formed by the merger of five Islamist militias and opposing factions in 2017. The United States of America and other Western governments have designated the HTS as a terrorist organisation.

Rise and Fall of ISIS

The Islamic State group broke away from Al Qaeda a decade ago and attracted a wide number of protestors from around the world. After a meteoric rise in Iraq and Syria in 2014, which saw it conquering wide and vast swaths of territory, ISIS or ISIL saw its self-proclaimed caliphate collapse under a wave of offensives. The group’s rule was marked by a mass number of shootings and beheadings.

The IS once held 88,000 sq km or 34,000 sq miles of territory stretching from northeastern Syria and across northern Iraq and imposed its brutal rule on eight million people

Despite its defeat in 2017 and in Syria two years later, the IS militants still carry out deadly attacks in various countries and elsewhere. It is estimated to have between 6000 to 10,000 fighters in Syria, who are based mostly in rural areas and continue to carry out hit-and-run attacks, ambushes, and roadside boundaries.

The IS regional affiliates also pose threats in other conflict zones across the world. The UN said the most vigorous and well-established networks were based in Afghanistan, Somalia, and Lake Chad Basin.