Top Islamic State leader killed in Syria

The Turkish Intelligence forces have killed Islamic State leader Abu Hussein al-Qurashi in Syria, president Tayyip Erdogan announced.

"This individual was neutralised as part of an operation by the Turkish national intelligence organisation in Syria yesterday," Erdogan said in an interview with TRT Turk broadcaster.

He also said that the Intelligence agencies had pursued Qureshi for long.

The raid took place in northern Syria, the local and security forces said. The raid took place in the northern Syrian town of Jandaris, which is controlled by Turkey-based rebel groups and was one of the worst-affected in the February 6 earthquake that hit both Turkey and Syria.

One resident said that the clashes started on the edge of Jandaris overnight from Saturday into Sunday. It lated about an hour before the residents heard a large explosion.

The area was later encircled to prevent anyone from entering.

The Islamic State had selected Qureshi in November 2022 after its previous leader was killed in an operation in southern Syria.

The Islamic State had taken over vast swathes of land in Iraq and Syria. It head at that time, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi had declared an Islamic Caliphate at that time. However the outfit lost grip of territory following a campaign by the US backed forces in Syria and Iraq.

While the strength of the Islamic State had gone down, the fear for the agencies are the lone wolves who have entered their homelands. The ideology of the Islamic State remains strong thanks to its online propaganda. Many youth have picked up this ideology across the world and still look to carry out strikes in the name of the terror outfit. The Islamic State is banned in India.