Men of the United States Special Force have killed Abu Ibrahim al-Hassan, leader of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), according to Joe Biden, the US president.

While Giving situation report from the White House in the early hours of Thursday, Biden said a major terrorist leader has been taken off the battlefield in a reinforced mission by special forces deliberately chosen by his administration to minimise civilian casualties.

Thanks to the bravery of our troops, this horrible terrorist leader is no more,” CNN quoted Biden to have said.

“Knowing that terrorist had chosen to surround himself with families, including children, we made a choice to pursue a special forces raid at a much a greater risk to our own people rather than targeting him with an airstrike.”

FIJ learned that al-Hassan became ISIS leader in 2019, after the death of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, his predecessor.

According to CNN, this was the biggest US offensive since the elimination of the latter  in 2019.

About 13 people were reportedly killed in an unrest that erupted during and after the special force raid, despite Biden’s efforts to limit civilian casualties.

“At least 13 people were killed in clashes that took place during and after the raid — including six children and four women,” CNN quoted an official of the White Helmets, a Syrian civil defence group, to have said.

In addition to the 13 killed, two people were also injured and a building was “partially destroyed” following the raid, according to the White Helmets.

But the Pentagon, headquarters of the United State Department of Defence, claimed there were zero casualties.

According to CNN, Pentagon officials said “a bomb exploded by the target of the operation resulted in the civilian casualties, citing early assessments of the operation”.

John Kirby, Pentagon spokesperson, in a statement last night, disclosed that the offensive was carried out by US Central Command, a body that controls military operations and activities in the Middle East.

Yet, CNN quoted a senior official of the Pentagon to have said: “At the beginning of the operation, the terrorist target exploded a bomb that killed him and members of his own family, including women and children.

“While we are still assessing the results of this operation, this appears to be the same cowardly terrorist tactic we saw in the 2019 operation that eliminated al-Baghdadi.”