WASHINGTON: The leader of the Islamic State (IS) was killed during an overnight raid carried out by US special forces in Syria’s north-western Idlib province, President Joe Biden said Thursday.

Intelligence reports had established that the raid targeted Abu Ibrahim Al Hashimi Al Quraishi in Atimeh town of northern Idlib province and close to the border with Turkey. The raid hit a three-story residential building, where the IS leader Al-Qurayshi lived with his family on the second floor. Local sources said the US special forces faced stiff resistance on the ground, and that they came under fire from anti-aircraft guns mounted on vehicles. Gunfire and shelling were heard for two hours, during the raid the IS leader detonated a bomb that killed him and family members – including his wife and their two children.

 US President Joe Biden said a US special forces counter-terrorism raid in northwest Syria on Thursday targeted the leader of the Islamic State, U.S. president appreciated the US special forces raid on IS leader. Biden said in a statement, that he ordered US forces to “take every precaution available to minimize civilian casualties,” adding that was why they chose not to conduct an airstrike on the home. He tweeted U.S. military forces successfully undertook a counterterrorism operation. Thanks to the bravery of armed forces, that have been removed from the battlefield Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi — the leader of ISIS.

The U.S. Rewards for Justice Program was offering up to $10 million in exchange for information leading to al-Qurashi’s apprehension.

The Islamic State leader Abu Ibrahim Al Hashimi Al Quraishi was born in Iraq’s city Mosul, in 1976, took over as head of the Islamic State militant group on Oct. 31, 2019, just days after leader Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi died during a US raid in the same area.