Turkish officers have claimed that authorities authorities have efficiently captured the Islamic State’s new chief, Abu al-Hassan al-Hashimi al-Qurashi, in a raid in Istanbul.
In line with the Turkish information station OdaTV, Turkish anti-terrorism police and agent detained a person suspected to be the chief of a jihadist group. Al-Qurayshi is the successor to Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi, who perished in a United States Special Forces raid earlier this yr.
Turkish authorities mentioned that Al-Qurayshi was captured after intensive police surveillance and intel gathering, notably across the ISIS chief’s residence in Istanbul. Officers say that the arrest was accomplished with out firing a single bullet and had no casualties.
OdaTV reported that Turkish President Recept Tayyip Erdogan has already been knowledgeable of al-Qurayshi’s seize and is predicted to present a proper announcement throughout the coming days.
Two senior Turkish officers who spoke underneath the situation of anonymity confirmed that the arrest occurred. Nonetheless, unbiased sources couldn’t confirm if the person captured was certainly the brand new ISIS ringleader.
The US particular forces carried an assault in a single day in Idlib north-west Syria, and killed ISIS chief Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi..
Three youngsters and different civilians have been killed through the operation. pic.twitter.com/Kvr33nCgQ5— Asaad Sam Hanna (@AsaadHannaa) February 3, 2022
If true, the seize would turn out to be the primary occasion a frontrunner of the Islamic State had been captured alive, furthermore with out casualties or a minimum of resistance. That is in stark distinction to how the previous ISIS chief al-Qurayshi’s predecessor went out, notably blowing himself up alongside along with his household when US forces have been closing in on his home.
US officers stay cautious about taking Turkey’s claims at face worth. Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby mentioned that,
“[We] can’t verify the studies about al-Qurashi,” after being requested in a press briefing.
“What we’ve seen within the press clearly, we’ve been this all day, however we’re simply not able the place we are able to truly verify that press reporting,” Kirby added.
A Shell of its Former Self
The Islamic State, or ISIS, is a Sunni jihadist group infamous for its violent dealings and extremist beliefs. Closely impressed by al-Qaeda, the group was established in 2014 upon its self-proclaimed spiritual authority over the Muslim world.
ISIS revolutionized the phobia panorama with its crafty use of social media recruitment and fundraising, one thing the US, together with different international locations, had been attempting to cease all through the years. Their strategies attracted hordes of sympathizers to take up arms and be a part of their trigger or conduct heinous acts of terror of their residence international locations within the identify of ISIS.
Throughout its top, the jihadist group managed huge territories within the Center East, notably in Iraq and Syria. This got here with thousands and thousands of civilians who have been compelled to dwell underneath ISIS rule. It took a protracted and grueling battle to push ISIS out of the lands they occupied in 2019.
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After their defeat, the group was compelled to cover in scattered outposts throughout the area. One other devastating blow was dealt to the jihadists after the Delta Power killed then chief and founder Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in October that very same yr.
In the present day, the Islamic State’s operation seems to be restricted to guerilla-style missions in Syria and Iraq, removed from what the group was able to in earlier years. Many specialists consider ISIS couldn’t recuperate from 2019 and has misplaced the flexibility to conduct assaults on the scale it as soon as did.
News of the seize of al-Quarayshi comes a month after ISIS referred to as for a revived “international offensive” towards the West and Israel, because the world is at the moment fixated on the developments in Ukraine.
“We announce, counting on God, a blessed marketing campaign to take revenge,” the group’s new spokesperson Abu-Omar al-Muhajir mentioned in an audio clip. “Struggle all of them and Allah will reply and punish them at your palms.”
Al-Muhajir advised sympathizers to arm themselves and launch terror assaults whereas “the crusaders are preventing one another.”
The arrest additionally got here shortly after an ISIS plot to assassinate former US President George W. Bush was foiled by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The suspect, an Iraqi, stalked Bush in his Dallas residence and deliberate to smuggle his colleagues into the US by way of the Mexican border.
Turkey and ISIS
Turkey has been the sufferer of a number of ISIS terror assaults in recent times. One was a suicide bombing in Istanbul’s vacationer middle which killed ten folks in 2016. The nation clashed with the terrorist group in its occupied territories, forcing ISIS out of a number of settlements close to the Turkish border.
ISIS assaults in Turkey have been largely aimed on the Kurdish YPG forces, who obtained western help to struggle the extremist group. Nonetheless, the Kurdish nationalists are seen as terrorists by the Turkish authorities due to their hyperlinks to an independence-seeking militant group.
This state of affairs is being exploited by ISIS to suggest that it might stage assaults in Turkey with out the necessity to confront the Turkish authorities’s forces. This has additionally drawn criticism towards Turkey for turning a blind eye to ISIS atrocities, with some claims that the Turkish authorities is working with the jihadists to struggle the Kurds.
Nonetheless, strain from the West has pushed the Turkish authorities to lastly crack down on ISIS. There have been studies of cell raids and apprehension of ISIS members by Turkish authorities in current months.
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