Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurashi is living there with his family and sister.
Atme:
As American forces flew over the Syrian town of Atme, where the leader of ISIS was hiding, resident Mahmoud Shehadeh mistook the sound of a helicopter for a storm.
What he saw as he stepped outside to check the weather shocked him. Just half an hour into Thursday, several helicopters surrounded a neighboring house, their loudspeakers broadcasting messages to residents.
“We saw planes flying over our heads and after ten minutes we heard them shouting (to one woman): ‘Turn around, the house is under siege’,” Mahmoud told AFP. immediately after the US-led campaign in which IS was leader Abu. Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurashi blew himself up.
“I don’t know if she will surrender or not.”
Residents of Atme, a Syrian town in the northwestern region of Idlib bordering Turkey, heard gunfire from warplanes.
This happened for about two hours before elite US-led forces stormed Qurashi’s house.
The war watchdog of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said civilians were among at least 13 people killed in the operation.
When the landings began, people thought that American forces were targeting an Al-Qaeda leader.
US special forces have carried out a number of operations against high-value jihadist targets in the Idlib region in recent months.
The area, the last enclave to actively oppose the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, is home to more than three million people and is dominated by jihadists.
Abu Ali, a displaced Syrian who lives nearby, who declined to give his full name for security reasons, said the US had issued messages to reassure residents.
He heard American forces say “”Don’t worry. We just came to this house…to rescue you from the “terrorists”.
– A taxi driver –
Atme residents were shocked to learn that their neighbor in a modest two-story home surrounded by olive trees was in fact the leader of ISIS.
One of the most wanted men in the world, he lives there with his family and sister.
Even his landlord, Mohamed al-Sheikh, was perplexed by the news. He thought he rented the house to a taxi driver.
AFP reporters took pictures of the house showing a simple room with few foam mattresses, blankets, colorful clothes and children’s toys.
Footage of the house after the operation showed a billowing plume of black smoke billowing from the first floor, towards a partially collapsed terrace. In the next room, blood splattered on the walls and floor.
Recounting the march in a televised address, US President Joe Biden said that Qurashi detonated a bomb during the raid, killing himself and family members, including the woman. and children.
Al-Sheikh said that Qurashi rented the house about a year ago.
He lives on the ground floor with his wife and three children. His sister and her daughter live on the first floor.
“This man has lived here (in the house) for 11 months. I don’t notice anything out of the ordinary about him,” Al-Sheikh said.
“He’ll pay my rent and leave.”
One of the last times he saw his tenant, Al-Sheikh said he was picking olives near his home. Qurashi brought him a cup of coffee and sat down to chat.
Al-Sheikh says he seems to be an “easy-going, light-hearted and fun person”.
He always wears the same clothes, he said – a pair of trousers, a shirt, a vest and a headscarf.
Qurashi’s nickname is “Terminator” and he is famous for his brutality. He played a key role in the 2014 jihadist campaign to exterminate and enslave the Yazidis in Iraq.
His cool demeanor and even hot temper has kept him away from any suspicion.
Now that his identity has been revealed, his landlord is furious about his damaged home.
“If I had known about him, I would never have let him live in my house,” he said.
(Except for the title, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from an aggregated feed.)
