“The suspected leader of Daesh, code name Abou Hussein al-Qourachi, was neutralized in an operation carried out yesterday. [sábado] by MIT (Turkish secret service) in Syria,” the Turkish head of state said in a televised interview.
IS had announced the death of its former leader, Abu Hasan al-Hachimi al-Qurachi, on November 30 without specifying the circumstances. He was immediately replaced by Abu Al-Husein al-Huseini al-Qurachi, according to the terror group.
According to an AFP correspondent in northern Syria, Turkish secret services and Turkish-backed local military police surrounded an area near the town of Jindires in the Afrin region (northwest) on Saturday, according to an AFP correspondent in northern Syria.
Local residents questioned by the AFP indicated that an operation had been carried out against an abandoned farm that served as a madrasa in the past.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan returned to the campaign trail on Saturday after recovering from gastroenteritis for three days. His political future will be at stake in parliamentary and presidential elections on the 14th, with secular and republican party leader CHP Kemal Kilicdaroglu leading the polls by a majority.
This announcement also comes at a time when diplomats are multiplying in meetings for the normalization of relations between Bashar al-Assad’s Syria and other countries, including Turkey.
Source: DN
