U.S. forces have received from an opposition military faction the body of ISIS leader Abu al-Hasan al-Hashemi al-Qurashi, who was killed in a military operation by opposition factions in the city of Jassem, north of Daraa, in mid-October.
The Turkish Anadolu Agency quoted a source as saying that the Eighth Division — an opposition faction working with coalition forces at Al-Tanf base in southeastern Syria — dug up Qurashi’s grave and exhumed his body, which had been buried in the city of Jassim. They then handed the body over to U.S. forces at the base ten days ago.
Anadolu Agency said that it had obtained a video of what, according to the source, was Qurashi’s tomb. The tomb had been dug up and some stones placed on top of it.
At the end of November, ISIS spokesman Abu Omar al-Muhajir announced Qurashi’s death, without confirming the date and other details. U.S. Central Command said that Qurashi was killed after a military operation by the Free Syrian Army against the militant group in the Daraa governorate in mid-October.
A leader in the opposition factions also told Al-Modon that Qurashi had been killed, along with two leaders of the organization, during a security operation carried out by the local opposition factions against ISIS in Jassem. He indicated that the factions were not fully aware of Qurashi’s identity at the time, explaining that Qurashi has adopted several fake names to conceal his identity, including Abu Abdul Rahman Al-Iraqi and Saif Baghdad.
A week ago, the local Daraa 24 network reported that the Eighth Brigade — which participated in the operation against the group in Jassim — had taken Qurashi’s body to Jordan and handed it over to U.S. forces.
This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
