US President Joe Biden has announced that Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Quraishi, a leader of the Islamic State group, has been killed in a US-led operation in Syria's Idlib province. What is known about this leader of IS?
IS leader Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Quraishi was hiding with his family in a two-story house in the Atmeh area near the Turkish border. A car bomb had exploded at an Iraqi police recruiting center at Kisak, west of Kabul, killing at least 13 people, including himself and his family.
The attack was planned for months. Mr Biden was sitting in the White House watching as the attack began after President Biden gave the final instructions to conduct the operation.
Al-Quraishi has long been touted as the future leader of IS.
Within the Islamic State group, al-Quraishi was known as "Haji Abdullah Kardash" or "Haji Abdullah." An informative video report about him has been made by Ferras Kilani of the BBC's Arabic section.
He has traveled to various parts of Iraq, talking to many people and gathering detailed information about al-Quraishi.
Al-Quraishi was born near Mosul
Al-Quraishi was born in 1967 in al-Mehlabia, 35 kilometers from Mosul, Iraq's second largest city.
The Iraqi government's counter-terrorism unit is called the Falcon Brigade. The Falcon Brigade was instrumental in getting its spies inside the Islamic State.
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IS leader Al-Quraishi lived with his family in this house
Photo source, EPA
Photo caption,
IS leader Al-Quraishi lived with his family in this house
As a result, their role in the fight against Islamic extremism was crucial. One of their agents is Major Ahmed. This is not his real name, he was given this pseudonym to keep his identity secret.
Major Ahmed knows the details about the last leader of the Islamic State. He was saying that Haji Abdullah or Al-Quraishi's real name was Amir Mohammad Saeed Al-Maula.
"Amir Mohammad Saeed Al-Mawla was born in Al-Mehalabia, his father was the muezzin of a mosque there. He had two wives and 17 children," he said.
Initiation into extremism at an early age
"They had big families, and the locals still remember them. Because they were educated, people respected them."
Nevertheless, al-Quraishi was instigated by some local groups.
The three remote areas of Al-Mehlabia, Tal Abta and Al-Hazar combine to form an island. This is where Iraqi al-Qaeda was born after the 2003 US-led invasion. They also had a lot of support here.
Most of the Islamic State's military and security leaders come from these areas - especially from nearby Tal-Afar.
Join Al Qaeda
Al-Quraishi was reportedly in the Iraqi army for some time during Saddam Hussein's rule. He also studied Islam at the University of Mosul.
Al-Quraishi was involved in a number of small jihadist groups when US-led forces invaded Iraq in 2003.
But he later left the group and joined al-Qaeda.
The United States has offered a reward for information leading to the capture of al-Quraishi
Photo source, US DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Photo caption,
The United States has offered a reward for information leading to the capture of al-Quraishi
Shortly after the US-led invasion of Iraq, Saddam Hussein was ousted. And then Haji Abdullah - due to his religious education and long experience of being involved with extremist groups - quickly became a leading member.
He was arrested at one point in 2006, and is being held in Puka prison by the Americans.
There, U.S. troops interrogated al-Quraishi for months. They claim that al-Quraishi gave them a lot of information about IS members - although investigators from the BBC's Arabic division could not confirm this on their own.
Al-Quraishi was released at the beginning of 2010. Shortly afterwards, he joined Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the founding leader of the Islamic State.
As a close associate of al-Baghdadi, he became a senior ISA official in the province of Nineveh.
Inside Al-Quraishi's residence after the raid
Photo source, EPA
Photo caption,
Inside Al-Quraishi's residence after the raid
It was a time when large numbers of American troops were withdrawn from Iraq. This gives IS the opportunity to reorganize itself.
The prime minister of Iraq at the time was Nouri al-Maliki. His government was not popular, so the number of Islamic State members continued to grow.
Haji Abdullah was not 'talented'
Al-Quraishi, or Haji Abdullah, has been met several times by a senior ISA leader who is now being held in the Iraqi intelligence service's prisons, he told the BBC's Arabic Service. The name of this leader has not been released by the BBC's Arabic division, because the IS leadership does not yet know that he is a prisoner.
"Haji Abdullah is very extremist in some respects, and he does not trust anyone except a few of his close ones."
The captive IS leader said, "I noticed that Haji
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