The leader of the Daesh terrorist group, Abu al-Hassan al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi, was killed in an operation conducted by the Free Syrian Army (FSA) in Syria, the U.S. Central Command said Thursday.
The group has selected Abu al-Hussein al-Husseini al-Quraishi to replace him, the spokesperson of the terrorist group said in an audio message posted on Telegram on Thursday. No details about the new Daesh leader were given in the audio message.
The U.S. Central Command confirmed that the Daesh terrorist leader was killed in Syria's Daraa province in an operation by the FSA last month.
"CENTCOM and our partners remain focused on the enduring defeat of ISIS," spokesperson Col. Joe Buccino said in a statement, using an alternate acronym for Daesh.
The White House welcomed the news of al-Qurayshi's death.
"We are pleased to see the removal of ISIS' top leaders in such quick succession. The United States remains committed to countering the global threat from ISIS and stands ready to work with international partners who share that same goal," spokesperson Karine Jean-Pieree told reporters.
Daesh announced Abu al-Hassan al-Hashemi al-Quraishi as its new leader in March after the death of its predecessor Abu Ibrahim al-Hashemi al-Quraishi.
The latter al-Quraishi was the brother of slain former Daesh head Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, according to two Iraqi security officials and one Western security source.
Both al-Quraishi and al-Baghdadi died by blowing themselves and their family members up during U.S. raids on their hideouts in northern Syria.
The Daesh terrorist group emerged from the chaos of the civil war in neighboring Syria last decade and took over vast swathes of Iraq and Syria in 2014. Al-Baghdadi declared a self-proclaimed "caliphate" from a mosque in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul that year and proclaimed himself "caliph" of all Muslims.
Daesh's brutal rule, during which it killed and executed thousands of people in the name of its perverted interpretation of religion, came to an end in Mosul when Iraqi and international forces defeated the group there in 2017.
Its remaining thousands of militants have in recent years mostly hidden out in remote territory but are still able to carry out significant insurgent-style attacks.
Meanwhile, as a result of the coordinated efforts of the National Intelligence Organization (MIT) and the Syrian National Army, five Daesh terrorists were caught in northern Syria.
Local Syrian forces captured the Daesh members in November together with their weapons and equipment.
According to security sources, among those captured was Abu Seyf Tadmuri or Abu Ducane, codenamed "Mohammed Khalid Ali," who was in so-called charge of the Operation Peace Spring area and operating in the desert region of Syria.
Mohammad Salih, codenamed "Abu Omer Korani," participated in various raids on the orders of the terrorist group, the sources added.
Halit Mohammed Isa al-Hulu, codenamed "Abu Islam Salo," and Ali Huseyin Ali, codenamed "Abu Hasan Shami," acted as assassins within the organization.
Shadi al-Setem al-Ali, codenamed "Abu Hamza," was in charge of explosives.