The United States Central Command (CENTCOM) said that it carried out a successful military operation to kill a senior Islamic State leader Khalid Aydd Ahmad al-Jabouri in Syria on Monday, reported Reuters. This comes as the latest blow to the terror group that struck fear all over the Middle East in the past. CENTCOM said no civilians were killed or injured during the operation.
In an official statement, CENTCOM said that Khalid Aydd Ahmad al-Jabouri was responsible for planning Islamic State attacks in Europe. It said he had also developed the leadership system for the outfit.
However, the US said the terror group "continues to represent a threat to the region and beyond," reported Reuters. The military statement added that his death “will temporarily disrupt the organisation’s ability to plot external attacks.”
Moreover, in the official statement, it said, "Though degraded, the group remains able to conduct operations within the region with a desire to strike beyond the Middle East," as quoted by Reuters.
The Islamic State used to control a lot of regions in Syria and Iraq during its peak rule in 2014, after which the group became weaker. It is estimated that the terror outfit has 5,000 to 7,000 members and supporters who are present in regions of Syria and Iraq, said a UN report in February. Half of these are fighters on the ground.
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The UN report said, threats by the Islamic State and its associated groups were very high in the second half of 2022. Meanwhile, the threats to international peace and security have also increased in the conflict zones, as reported by Reuters.
After its previous leader was killed in southern Syria, it announced Abu al-Hussein al-Husseini al-Quraishi as its new leader. Quraishi was not a much-known figure before he became the Islamic State chief.