Islamic State Confirms Death of Leader, Names Successor

The Islamic State named a successor to Abu al-Hussein al-Husseini al-Qurayshi, whom the extremist group confirmed Thursday was killed in action.

Abu Hafs al-Hashemi al-Qurayshi was named the group's new leader.

The group did not say when Abu al-Hussein al-Husseini al-Qurayshi was killed, only that he died in combat in Syria by members of an al-Qaida splinter group. The Islamic State broke away from al-Qaida roughly 10 years ago.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan clamed in April that Abu al-Hussein al-Husseini al-Qurayshi was killed by his country's intelligence forces, an assertion the IS denied Thursday.

It was an Afghan branch of the IS that claimed responsibility for the suicide bombing in Pakistan last weekend that killed scores.

Al-Qurayshi, which hails from the Quraish tribe, is the nom de guerre given to every IS leader since its founder, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, was killed in October, 2019. The group's two successors after al-Baghdadi were both killed in Syria in 2022, the first in February.

Abu al-Hussein al-Husseini al-Qurayshi, who led the group since November, is the fourth IS leader to be killed.

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