BEIRUT: The Islamic State (IS) group said Wednesday that its leader Abu Hasan al-Hashimi al-Qurashi has been killed in battle and announced a replacement.
A spokesman for the group said Hashimi, an Iraqi, was killed “in combat with enemies of God”, without elaborating on the date of his death or the circumstances.
Speaking in an audio message, the spokesman identified the group’s new leader as Abu al-Hussein al-Husseini al-Qurashi.
After a meteoric rise in Iraq and Syria in 2014 that saw it conquer vast swathes of territory, the IS saw its self-proclaimed “caliphate” collapse under a wave of offensives.
It was defeated in Iraq in 2017 and in Syria two years later, but sleeper cells of the Sunni Muslim extremist group still carry out attacks in both countries and claim attacks elsewhere in the world. IS’s previous leader, Abu Ibrahim al-Qurashi, was killed earlier this year in a US raid in Idlib province in northern Syria. His predecessor Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was killed, also in Idlib, in October 2019.
Statement said no staff member had been permanently removed from work
The spokesperson stressed that the US will “continue to work to hold ISIS accountable for its actions"
Number of women members, who were notified by ECP as MPAs on reserved seats, are yet to be sworn in
They discussed various matters with particular focus on restoration of lasting peace in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
The development came under the orders passed by the Supreme Court of Pakistan
Establishment Division issued two separate notifications allowing Ministry of Interior to make recruitments