US President Biden has announced that the head of the Islamic State militant group has been killed in a US attack. He is also the person who inherited the role of the former leader who was killed in the US counter-terrorism operation in 2019.
Correspondent Hong Hee-jung.
[기자]
A village in northwestern Syria.
The three-story building was shattered.
There is a lot of broken debris all around.
There are bloodstains all over the building.
This is where Al-Quraish, the head of the terrorist organization, the Islamic State, was hiding.
When U.S. special forces raided the hideout, Al-Quraish resisted and detonated a bomb on his own, killing his wife and children.
[조 바이든/미국 대통령 : 우리 군의 용감함 덕분에 이 끔찍한 테러 수장은 더 이상 존재하지 않습니다.]
Al-Quraish is the successor of ISIS founder al-Baghdadi, who was removed in 2019.
President Biden condemned Al-Quraish’s suicide.
[조 바이든/미국 대통령 : 가족의 생명은 고려하지 않은 필사적으로 비겁한 최후의 행동이었습니다.]
Aides including President Biden and Vice President Harris watched the entire operation from the White House Situation Room.
This operation was carried out by the US Central Command, which oversees the Middle East.
The Pentagon said the mission was successful and there were no US casualties.
[존 커비/미 국방부 대변인 : 우리 군은 10명 이상의 여성, 어린이와 아기를 보호하는 데 성공했습니다. 이러한 노력에는 공습을 실행하기로 한 대통령의 결정이 중요한 역할을 했습니다.]
However, Syrian relief organization ‘White Helmet’ claimed that at least 10 people, including children and women, were killed in the course of the operation.
Some foreign media also suggest that the Biden government conducted this operation to make up for successive diplomatic failures, such as the withdrawal of Afghan troops.
