President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has stated that Turkey had neutralised Abu Hussein al-Qurayshi, the head of the Islamic State (IS) terrorist organisation, after an intelligence operation in Syria.
Erdogan was cited by the state-run Anadolu News Agency as stating, “The National Intelligence Organisation (MIT) had been following the so-called leader of IS, code-named Abu Hussein al-Qurayshi, for a long time,” during a live interview on Turkish channel TRT Turk on Sunday.
“I’m telling you about this for the first time here. In a Saturday (yesterday) MIT operation, this guy was neutralised. Without any exceptions, we will keep fighting terrorist groups, the President continued.
The terrorist organisation said in November 2022 that Abu Hasan al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi, its former head, had passed away and been succeeded by Abu Hussein al-Qurayshi.
One of the first nations to designate IS as a terrorist group was Turkey in 2013.
Since then, the terror organisation has repeatedly assaulted the nation, leaving over 300 people dead and hundreds more wounded in at least 10 suicide bombings, seven bomb attacks, and four armed assaults.
To stop such assaults, Turkey started anti-terror efforts both domestically and internationally.
According to the BBC, the terror organisation once controlled 88,000 square kilometres of land that stretched from northern Iraq to northeastern Syria and brutally ruled over about eight million people.
The organisation was ousted from its last area of control in 2019, but the UN issued a warning in July of last year that it posed a continuing danger.
Between 6,000 and 10,000 fighters, most of whom are located in rural regions and still engage in hit-and-run operations, ambushes, and roadside bombs, are said to be present in Syria and Iraq.
In other war zones throughout the globe, IS regional branches also represent a concern.
The Lake Chad region, Somalia, and Afghanistan were reportedly home to the most active and well-established networks, according to the UN.
