The American soldiers gave the opportunity to leader of the Islamic State Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Quraisi to surrender, but he eventually chose to blow himself up, General Kenneth McKenzie said tonight.
“He was killed, as was his family, without a fight, while we were trying to get him to surrender and offer him the option to survive,” said General McKenzie, who heads the US Central Command (Centcom).
Due to the powerful explosion on the second floor, the American soldiers found the “emir” of IK dead, on the ground, outside the building, he added. Examination of the fingerprints and DNA analysis confirmed that it was al-Hashimi al-Quraisi.
The operation, on Wednesday night through Thursday, lasted about two hours.
After the US special forces arrived at the scene by helicopter, correspondents of the French Agency said that they saw a damaged building, with blood stains on the floor. According to the Pentagon, “at least three civilians” were killed in the blast, including Quraisi’s wife and two children.
The United States has said in a statement that no civilians were killed in the attack.
See all the news
Follow Skai.gr on Google News
and be the first to know all the news
Skai
