Terrorist militia IS confirms dead leader and announces successor Bomb letter explodes in Ukrainian embassy in Madrid ++ 300,000 reservists in training

The Islamic State (IS) terror militia has confirmed the death of its leader Abu al-Hassan al-Hashimi and named a successor. The militia announced in an audio message on Wednesday that the new “emir” will be Abu al-Husain al-Husaini al-Kuraishi. The previous leader had been “killed in battle,” it said without further information. Supporters of ISIS were called on to continue their fight.

The authenticity of the message could not initially be verified. But it was spread through the extremists’ usual social media channels.

Abu al-Hasan al-Hashimi was named leader in March. He succeeded Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Kurashi, who was killed in February during a US military operation in northwestern Syria. According to Washington, he blew himself up to avoid being held responsible for his actions.

IS expert Hassan Hassan doubted the authenticity of the message. Jihadists often faked the deaths of their leaders and commanders to ease pressure from intelligence and security forces. It has not yet been revealed who was behind the bat name Abu al-Hassan al-Hashimi.

For years, IS controlled large areas in Iraq and in the neighboring civil war country of Syria. The extremists have now lost their reign again. However, IS cells are still active in both countries. Observers warn that the jihadists could expand their influence again. (saw/sda/dpa)