The raid that killed head of the Islamic State Qurashi
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin (Centre) and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley (Right) monitor the military operation in Syria from the National Military Command Center in Washington, DC, on February 02, 2022. US President Joe Biden said a global "terrorist threat" was removed when the head of the Islamic State group blew himself up after US special forces swooped on his Syrian hideout. PHOTO | AFP
By early December, US intelligence was certain of it: the man occupying the top floor of a nondescript house in Atme, northern Syria -- who never left the premises, emerging only to bathe on the roof -- was the head of the Islamic State group.
In the White House Situation room, a table-top model of the house was set up, and President Joe Biden was briefed on his options to neutralise Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurashi, one of America's most wanted jihadist targets.
