This was the US military operation. in Syria that ended the life of the leader of the Islamic State

The American operation that ended with the death of the leader of the terrorist group Islamic State, Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurashitook months to plan and took place in an environment of high tension due to the presence of civilians and children in the building where the target was located.

Senior US officials gave details this Thursday of how the operation was organized and carried out, although they did not want to confirm the number of fatalities, which – according to the White Helmets and Unicef ​​rescuers – were a total of 13, including 6 minors. .

These are the keys to the operation, according to the story of U.S:

MONTHS OF PREPARATION

The planning of the operation lasted “months”: Biden was first told about it in December, when his intelligence team made absolutely certain that it was Al Qurashi who was hiding in a building in the area of Atmein the northwestern Syrian province of Idlib.

“The president was informed of a series of possible options to end this terrorist objective and of the extraordinary complexity, due to the number of children who were in the area, and families on the first floor,” said one of the officials in a briefing. telephone press.

A TENSE MEETING IN THE “SITUATION ROOM”

Biden himself explained in a speech at the White House that this context motivated his “decision to carry out a special forces raid, something much more risky” for the US military, “instead of launching an air attack.”

The president gave the green light to the operation on Tuesday morning in the Oval Office, and this Wednesday night he supervised the “key aspects of the operation” from the Situation Room of the White House, said the official.

“There was enormous tension, given the number of children we knew were in the house, on the first floor,” added the source, who requested anonymity.

SEVERAL CIVILIANS WERE SAVED, INCLUDING EIGHT CHILDREN

At the start of the operation, US forces entered the building and asked everyone to leave, after which a family living on the first floor “exited and was taken to a safe place,” the source said.

In total, there were eight children who left the building and were saved, including four who were on the second floor, where US forces killed another IS terrorist and his wife, according to the official.

AT LEAST ONE WOMAN AND THREE CHILDREN DIED ALONG WITH THE LEADER OF THE ISLAMIC STATE

Al Qurashi was on the third floor and, shortly after the operation began, “he decided to blow himself up,” detonating an explosive that killed “several members of his family,” Biden explained in his speech.

Specifically, that suicidal act killed the IS leader, a woman and three children, White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki later told reporters.

According to the aforementioned US official, “the explosion was so strong on the third floor that it ejected bodies out of the house and into the surrounding areas.”

THE BUILDING REMAINED STANDING

Before launching the operation, the US government had ensured “with a high degree of confidence” that the building where he was hiding Al Qurashi “It was structurally sound” and “would not collapse” if the jihadist killed himself by detonating a bomb, he added.

“I doubt that he (Al Qurashi) knew it (…). Probably, his intention was to kill everyone who was in the building, ”said the official.

ANOTHER JIHADIST DIED ON THE SECOND FLOOR

The American special forces knew that a lieutenant of Al Qurashi lived on the second floor, a “terrorist of the Islamic State” who was not identified, and who “barricaded himself” with his wife in that plant, the source added.

Both opened fire on the American team, which finally killed them, and then four children who were on that floor came out and “were taken to a safe place,” said the official, who admitted that he did not know if there could be more minors in the room. where the jihadist and his wife died.

The main setback in the operation, in which there were no American casualties, was a “mechanical failure” in a helicopter, which had to be “moved to another location” and ultimately “destroyed,” according to the official.

AL QURASHI NEVER LEFT THE BUILDING

The official justified the decision to carry out the operation in a building inhabited by civilians by stating that Al Qurashi “never left the house”, with the exception of “sometimes going up to the roof to bathe”.

“He directed (Islamic State operations) through couriers who came and went, and used innocent people (who lived in the building) as a shield,” he added.

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