ISIS Leader Abu al-Hasan al-Hashemi al-Qurashi was killed during the security operation carried out by the Syrian Army in cooperation with local fighters from Daraa in October, a security source told Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA).
On Wednesday, ISIS announced the death of al-Hashemi al-Qurashi in battles without specifying the date or location, but the US said he died mid-October in southern Syria.
Reuters reported that it was the first time no US military troops were involved in the operation, and it was also the first time that an ISIS leader was killed in southern Syria rather than the north, where a group of factions, some of which are supported by the US, are located.
A former opposition fighter, activists from Daraa, and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) confirmed to Agence France Presse (AFP) that local fighters launched the only security operation that targeted extremist organizations in mid-October with the support of government forces in Jasim north of Daraa.
The security source told SANA that “Abu al-Hasan al-Hashemi al-Qurashi,” is Abd al-Rahman al-Iraqi, also referred to as “Saif Baghdad.” He is the so-called “ISIS Emir” in the southern region and was killed along with his group after targeting his headquarters in Jasim on Oct. 15.
Qurashi, an Iraqi national, led the organization’s operations, supervised its extension to Jordanian, Iraqi, and Syrian lands, and has also been primarily responsible for the assassinations in Daraa, according to the source.
Since 2018, the Syrian government forces have controlled Daraa, where there are opposition fighters who concluded settlement agreements with Damascus and kept their weapons.
A local fighter who participated in the security operation confirmed to AFP that Qurashi was killed during the clashes, while SOHR reported that he blew himself up.
The fighter recounted that the location of ISIS terrorists was identified after exchanging intel with the regime, explaining that the available information indicated there were ISIS security cells, an operation center in southern Syria, and a Daraa commander, not the organization’s leader.
