Death of Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurashi

One week ago today, President Joe Biden announced that ISIS chief, Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurashi was killed, "remov[ing] a major terrorist threat to the world." Since the death of his predecessor, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in 2019, Abu Ibrahim has acted as the leader of the Islamic State of Iraq. Qurayshi is said to have been groomed his whole life for a leadership position within IS. Prior to his death, the American government had offered a reward of around $7.3 for information on Qurayshi’s whereabouts or general intelligence.

The blast that killed Qurayshi and his family came from an American-led raid in Northern Syria. Biden promises that the death of their leader will set ISIS back significantly- greatly impacting the group's ability to function and progress. However, ISIS experts around the world hold a different opinion. This is a result of Qurayshi’s leadership and also the very organization of ISIS today. “Qurayshi is no Baghdadi.” His length of leadership seemed to impact the way in which he was viewed as a leader. Also, ISIS once controlled land almost as large as the UK. Now, they are acting almost as a guerrilla insurgency with confused and scattered leadership.

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