President Tayyip Erdogan announced Sunday that Turkish intelligence officers assassinated Islamic State commander Abu Hussein al-Qurashi in Syria.
“This individual was neutralized as part of an operation by the Turkish national intelligence organization in Syria yesterday,” Erdogan stated in an interview with TRT Turk.
Erdogan said the spy agency had tracked Qurashi for years.
Syrian local and security sources stated the attack occurred in January in a northern Syrian town controlled by Turkey-backed rebel factions and one of the worst hit by the Feb. 6 earthquake in Turkey and Syria.
The Syrian National Army, a local rebel group with security, did not react.
One neighbor stated fights occurred on the edge of Jandaris overnight from Saturday to Sunday, lasting approximately an hour before locals heard a big explosion.
Security personnel surrounded the area to prevent entry.
After its leader was killed in southern Syria in November 2022, IS chose al-Qurashi.
In 2014, Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi announced an Islamic caliphate over millions of people in Iraq and Syria.
After campaigns by U.S.-backed troops in Syria and Iraq, Iranian, Russian, and paramilitary groups in Syria, IS lost control of the region.
Though capable of major hit-and-run attacks, its thousands of militants have mostly hidden in remote areas of both countries in recent years.
The U.S.-led coalition and SDF are still raiding IS officials in Syria.
Senior IS officials sheltering in Turkey-controlled regions have been targeted.
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