In a daring raid by U.S. special operation forces in northwest Syria, ISIS terror leader Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimiย al-Qurayshi, also known asย Haji Abdullah,ย refused to surrender toย U.S.ย special operators andย killed himselfย and his family in a massive explosion.
Thankfully, there were no U.S. casualties in this mission approved by Presidentย Biden.
Referring to Abdullah, Marine Corps Gen. Kenneth F. McKenzie Jr., commander of U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM)ย said: โHe killed himselfย andย his immediate family without fighting, even as we attempted to call for his surrender and offered him a path to survive.โ
Abdullah was reportedly ejected from the building by the blast andย was identified byย fingerprint and DNA analyses.
McKenzie added Abdullah was โevery bit as evil and committed to attacks on the United States and its partners as was his predecessor.โ ย McKenzie was referring to the prior ISIS leader,ย Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi who was killed by a similar U.S. special ops raid in 2019 ordered by President Trump.
Baghdadi also blew himself up along with his children when cornered in a tunnel by U.S. operators.
The general offered regret for any civilian loss of life but emphasized that Abdullah was responsible for that, not U.S. forces. In this case, the Pentagon specifically avoided using a drone strike to kill Abdullah to avoid collateral civilian damage or any mistakes as occurred in the tragic drone strike ordered by President Biden in Afghanistan in August
According to DOD News:
The generalย said the Defense Departmentย deeply regretsย the loss of life of any non-combatants,ย but ISIS fighters were directly or indirectly responsible for every family member who perished in the mission through their โcowardlyโย actsย or through theirย choice to fightย U.S.ย forces.ย He addedย the professionalism of U.S.ย forces savedย the majority ofย non-combatantsย andย pursuedย every possible opportunity to save all of those whoย were present.ย ย
โTheย death of Haji Abdullah is a clear signal that the United States remains focused and committed to finding and eliminating the terrorists who are plotting to do us harm, and we will not rest while their organizations remain committed to terrorism and violence against the international community in the United States of America,โย theย Centcomย commander said. โIt's also a signal to all of those who wrongfully proclaimed that the United States was no longer interested in or committed to security in the U.S.ย Central Commandย area of responsibility. Nothing could be further from the truth,ย andย this mission confirms that,โย he added.ย
McKenzie added that โWe have come a very long way since the dark days of 2014 when ISIS had overrunย Raqqaย [in Syria]ย andย Mosulย [Iraq]ย and threatened Baghdad with the invaluable contributions of nations that would form Combined Joint Task Force Operationย โย Inherent Resolve.โ
However, the generalย explained, ISIS hasย neverthelessย reconstituted as an asymmetric threat, and itย continues to terrorize the innocent populations ofย Iraq and Syriaย wheneverย itย can.
While ISISย remains committed to harmย the United States, McKenzie noted thatย they can be defeated or at least neutralized. โISIS fighters are brutal and relentless, but they're also fairly conventional military targets,โย the general said. โOur task is to find, fix and finish them.โ
McKenzie also noted that besides ISIS Iran remainsย aย central threat in this region,ย saying: โSpecifically, my mission is to deter Iran from undertaking malign activities that undermine the security and stability of the region.โ
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions ofย American Liberty News.