The United States had been planning a military operation to eliminate the leader of the Islamic State terrorist group (banned in Russia), Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi, for several months, a senior US administration official told reporters on Thursday
WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 03rd February, 2022) The United States had been planning a military operation to eliminate the leader of the Islamic State terrorist group (banned in Russia), Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi, for several months, a senior US administration official told reporters on Thursday.
Earlier in the day, President Joe Biden announced that the US eliminated al-Qurayshi in a military operation in northwestern Syria last night.
"This operation has been months in planning. The President was first briefed on the operation in depth over month ago by the operational commanders, and after we learned that (al-Qurayshi) was definitely in this site," the official told a press briefing.
The US national security team updated Biden regularly on the planning details of this operation, including at a briefing in the Oval office earlier this week, they added.
"He gave us a final 'go' on this operation on Tuesday morning," the official noted.
The president was monitoring the developments in real time in the White House Situation Room on Wednesday. He received reports from Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin and other military commanders, the official added.
