Isis leader dead in Syria.

Everett WA

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The leader of the violent Islamic State group was killed during an overnight raid in Syria’s northwestern Idlib province, President Joe Biden said Thursday. The raid targeted Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi, who took over as head of the militant group on Oct. 31, 2019, just days after leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi died during a U.S. raid in the same area. A U.S. official said he died as al-Baghdadi did, by exploding a bomb that killed himself and members of his family, including women and children, as U.S. forces approached. The operation came as IS has been trying for a resurgence, with a series of attacks in the region, including an assault late last month to seize a prison in northeast Syria holding at least 3,000 IS detainees, it’s boldest operation in years. "Thanks to the bravery of our troops this horrible terrorist leader is no more," Biden said. He said al-Qurayshi had been responsible for the prison strike, as well as genocide against the Yazidi people in Iraq in 2014. U.S. special forces landed in helicopters and assaulted a house in a rebel-held corner of Syria, clashing for two hours with gunmen, witnesses said. Residents described continuous gunfire and explosions that jolted the town of Atmeh near the Turkish border, an area dotted with camps for internally displaced people from Syria’s civil war. Biden said he ordered U.S. forces to "take every precaution available to minimize civilian casualties," adding that was why they chose not to conduct an airstrike on the home. First responders reported that 13 people had been killed, including six children and four women. Biden, along with Vice President Kamala Harris and senior national security aides monitored a live-feed of the operation from the White House Situation Room according to an official. I understands that the raid was carried out by the Army’s elite Delta Force, according to multiple sources with knowledge of the operation. No American commandos were wounded during the operation. However, an MH-60 Black Hawk helicopter was damaged and discarded. A follow-up airstrike destroyed the helicopter to prevent it from falling into the wrong hands. Syrian first responders claim that 13 people were killed in the operation, including six children and four women. U.S. officials have suggested the large number of civilian casualties is a result of a suicide-vest detonation within the compound.