{"id":7771,"date":"2022-12-04T15:54:53","date_gmt":"2022-12-04T14:54:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.itstime.it\/w\/?p=7771"},"modified":"2022-12-11T17:44:46","modified_gmt":"2022-12-11T16:44:46","slug":"spotrep-the-death-of-abu-al-hassan-al-hashimi-al-qurayshi-by-emilio-palmieri","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.itstime.it\/w\/spotrep-the-death-of-abu-al-hassan-al-hashimi-al-qurayshi-by-emilio-palmieri\/","title":{"rendered":"SPOTREP \u2013 The death of Abu al-Hassan al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi \u2013 by Emilio Palmieri"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

What we know.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In a press release dated 30NOV22[1]<\/a> CENTCOM[2]<\/a> announced the death of ISIS Caliph Abu al-Hassan al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi. In the info-space the operation was described as a ground assault executed by troops belonging to the Free Syrian Army (FSA) conducted in mid-October in the south-west Governorate of Dar\u2019a. Always on 30NOV22, ISIS\u2019s media affiliate al-Furqan published an audio message by the spokesperson, Abu Omar al-Muhajer, stating the death of its leader. In connection with the event, the following is the picture of the previous operations progressively directed against former leaders:<\/p>\n

– \u00a0 26OCT19, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi died as a consequence of a Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF)-supported, US Tier-1 SOF-led counterterrorism operation executed in the vicinity of the city of Barisha (Harem district), located in the north-west Governorate of Idilb, Syria;<\/p>\n

– \u00a0 31OCT19, on its medial outlet Amaq News Agency, ISIS acknowledged al-Baghdadi\u2019s death and announced Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi as the new leader;<\/p>\n

– \u00a0 03FEB22, Abu Ibrahim died as a consequence of another US Tier-1 SOF-led counterterrorism operation executed in the of city of Atme (Harem district), located in the north-west Governorate of Idilb, Syria;<\/p>\n

– \u00a0 10MAR22, ISIS acknowledged Abu Ibrahim\u2019s death in an audio message by the spokesperson Abu Omar al-Muhajir who announced Abu Al-Hassan Al-Hashimi Al-Qurayshi as the new leader;<\/p>\n

– \u00a0 mid-OCT22, Abu al-Hassan died as a consequence of a FSA-led raid carried out in the city of Jasim (Izra district), located in the south-west Governorate of Dar\u2019a;<\/p>\n

– \u00a0 end-NOV22, ISIS acknowledged Abu Ibrahim\u2019s death in an audio message by Abu Omar al-Muhajer who announced Abu al-Husain al-Husaini al-Qurayshi as the new Caliph.<\/p>\n

What we don\u2019t know.<\/strong><\/p>\n

There are a few unknowns about the incident that might be yielding undesired effects in the near-term future:<\/p>\n

– \u00a0 within the action-reaction cycle, what are the consequences to be expected in \u201ckinetic\u201d ISIS-affiliated hot-spots, like Levant, Central Asia and especially Africa, as counterbalance measures;<\/p>\n

– \u00a0 what will the impacts on the cyber domain look like, with specific regards to possible violent activities carried out by \u201cjihadized\u201d lone actors in western countries;<\/p>\n

– \u00a0 what is the new strategic focus going to be like, if a new vision is adopted by the incumbent leader;<\/p>\n

– \u00a0 what kind of organizational changes will be adopted.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

What we think.<\/strong><\/p>\n

While it is still early to provide credibility to the disseminated narrative, the significant event brings a few considerations with it:<\/p>\n