Senior US military officials involved in the raid that took out Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) leader Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurashi in northern Syria earlier this month told several news organizations on Thursday that more civilians may have been killed in the operation than previously admitted by the Pentagon. The officials added that they had no clarity on who detonated the bomb that killed the group’s boss.
US President Joe Biden announced Qurashi’s death on February 3, claiming that the terrorist leader had blown himself up in order to avoid capture at his remote home in the village of Atme near the Turkish border.
The Pentagon reported at the time that four civilians, including Qurashi’s wife and two children, were killed in an explosion caused by the terrorist, while 10 more civilians, including seven children, had been evacuated.
Independent reports on the ground, however, quickly claimed that at least 13 people were killed, including four women and six children.