The White House has expressed «satisfaction» with the «rapid succession» of the deaths of the latest Islamic State leaders, after the jihadist group confirmed the death of its leader, Abu al-Hassan al-Hashemi al-Quraishi, on Wednesday and immediately named his successor afterwards.
«We are pleased to see the elimination of Islamic State leaders in this rapid succession. The United States remains committed to addressing the global threat from the Islamic State and stands ready to work with international partners who share this same goal,» White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said.
Thus, she stressed that Washington will continue to work after these «successes at the anti-terrorist level» and promised to «keep up the pressure» on the jihadist group, while denying that the death of the leader of the Islamic State was caused by «an American action». «I can confirm that,» he reiterated.
U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) spokesman Joe Buccino said in a statement released Wednesday that Abu al-Hassan was killed in mid-October during a Free Syrian Army (FSA) operation — backed by Turkey — in the southern Syrian province of Daraa, in what he described as «another blow» to the terrorist group.
The Islamic State leader is dead less than a year after being appointed to the post to replace Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Quraishi, who was killed during an operation carried out by US special forces in Idlib province in northwestern Syria.
The previous jihadist leader, Abu Bakr al Baghdadi, was killed in 2019 in a U.S. operation in the same area of the Arab country. Since then, the Islamic State leaders have kept a very low profile and, in fact, neither of the last two has made any public appearances or statements.
