WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden said a “major terrorist threat” was eliminated during a U.S. raid in northwest Syria in which Islamic State leader Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi was killed.
“Thanks to the bravery of our troops this horrible terrorist leader is no more,” Biden said in remarks at the White House on Thursday after announcing earlier that he had ordered the U.S. attack. “Our forces carried out the operation with their signature preparation and precision.”
The leader of the militant group was killed after he detonated a bomb in the third-story apartment he and his family shared in the Atmeh village in northwestern Syria as U.S. forces closed in, according to senior U.S. officials who briefed reporters on the mission. There were no American casualties, but the U.S. said al-Qurayshi was responsible for the deaths of women and children when he blew himself up during the raid.
