DAMASCUS, Nov 1 (NNN-SANA) – Daesh confirmed, on Thursday, that its leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, was killed in a raid by US forces in northwestern Syria, and it vowed revenge against the United States.
Baghdadi died during the swoop by US special forces, President Donald Trump said, on Sunday.
Daesh confirmed Baghdadi’s demise, in an audio tape, and said, a successor, it identified only as, Abu Ibrahim al-Hashemi al-Quraishi, had been appointed.
The speaker in the audio also confirmed the death of Abu Hassan al-Muhajir, a close aide of al-Baghdadi and a spokesman for the group since 2016.
Al-Muhajir was killed in a joint US operation with Kurdish forces, in Jarablus in northern Syria on Sunday, hours after Baghdadi blew himself up, during a US raid in Syria’s northwestern Idlib province.
The killings were a double blow to the extremist group, nearly seven months after its territorial defeat.
The new spokesman, al-Quraishi, addressed the Americans, saying: “Don’t rejoice.”
“Don’t you know America, that the state (Daesh) today, is at the doorstep of Europe and is in Central Africa? It is also expanding and remaining from east to west.”
The speaker was referencing the slogan the Daesh used at the height of its successes: “Remaining and expanding.”– NNN-SANA