Islamic State's 'ghost' of a leader was plotting comeback when U.S. commandos cornered him
Captured Islamic State fighters described him as a “ghost,” a mysterious and nearly invisible leader with little practical sway over his weakened terrorist organization. Rivals questioned his credentials and reviled him as a turncoat who ratted out his comrades during a stint in a U.S. military prison.
But the Islamic State chief dubbed Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi also was known as a survivor, one who had weathered multiple setbacks and defeats. In recent months he had been plotting a comeback, U.S. officials and terrorism experts say, including a second act for the violent Islamist self-declared caliphate that had terrorized the region and, along with its affiliates, other parts of the world until its destruction three years ago.
Those plans abruptly ended in the predawn hours Thursday, when a U.S. Special Operations team assaulted his safe house in northwestern Syria. As commandos attacked the three-story villa, Qurayshi detonated a bomb that killed him and his family, including several children, U.S. officials said.
“This horrible terrorist leader is no more,” President Biden said in a televised statement announcing the successful raid.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/02/03/qurayshi-isis-leader-killed/