Reuters: The new leader of ISIS from the circle of ‘gun-smoked’ Iraqis – The 4 candidates

The next Islamic State leader is likely to come from a close circle of “gunpowder-smoked” Iraqi jihadists who “emerged” after the US-led invasion in 2003, two Iraqi security officials and three independent analysts told Reuters.

The possible successors to Abu Ibrahim al-Quraisi, who was killed during a US-led operation in Syria last week, include an Islamic State commander whom Washington and Baghdad have declared dead last year, according to Iraqi officials.

Qurayshi’s death was a shocking blow to the Islamic State, which lost its longtime leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi two years ago in a similar US-led invasion.

ΤIslamic State is expected to appoint a new leader in the coming weeks, and according to the Iraqi expert Fadhil Abu Rgheef, there are at least four possible successors.

“These are Abu Kadiya – the head of the Iraqi army, Abu Muslim – the head of Anbar province, and Abu Salih, about whom there is very little information, but who was close to Baghdadi and Quraysh,” he said.

“There is also Abu Yasir al-Isawi, who is suspected of being alive. He is valuable to the Islamic State because he has a long military experience.” Isawi was reported dead after an airstrike in January 2021.

But an Iraqi security official confirmed that there were strong suspicions that Isawi was still alive. “If he is not dead, he will be a candidate, he is experienced in planning military attacks and he has thousands of supporters,” the official said.

Security

The same official added that the Islamic State is likely to carry out a security clearance for any leaks that led to Qurayshi’s death before being convened to select and announce his successor.

Hassan Hassan, publisher of New Lines magazine, which has published an investigation into Qurayshi, said the new leader would be a veteran Iraqi jihadist.

“If they choose someone in the coming weeks, they will have to choose someone from the same circle … the group that was part of the Anbari group that operated under (the name) ISIS from the first days,” he said.

Baghdadi and Qurayshi, both al-Qa’eda members in Iraq from the early stages, were imprisoned in the United States in the mid-2000s. in Reuters a security official and an army colonel.

Officials and analysts in various countries agree that the Islamic State is under more pressure than ever and will not restore its self-proclaimed caliphate. But they disagree on how significant a blow Kouraisi’s death is to the organization.

Some say the fight against ISIS will absorb the United States and its allies for years to come, as it escalates into a permanent insurgency with new leaders ready to take the reins.

“In Syria, Islamic State units are operating as a decentralized network of individual groups to avoid being targeted. Therefore, we do not believe that Qurayshi’s death will have a huge impact,” said one Iraqi security official.

“It has also become more difficult to monitor them because they have long since stopped using cell phones for communication.”

Following their territorial defeats in Iraq in 2017 and Syria in 2019, Islamic State leaders are finding it increasingly easy to move between the two countries, aided by a split in control zones between the various armed forces.