Syria’s main insurgent al-Qaida-linked group denied it was behind the killing of the Islamic State group's leader in the country’s northwest saying it would have otherwise claimed responsibility. The security arm of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, made the announcement Friday night, a day after IS blamed the Syrian insurgent group for the death of its little-known leader, Abu al-Hussein al-Husseini al-Qurayshi, who headed the extremist organization since November.
He said HTS would continue to fight “evil acts” by IS in rebel-held parts of Syria, adding that had his group been behind al-Qurayshi’s death “we would have given the good news to Muslims and announced it directly.” Al-Qurayshi was the fourth IS leader to be killed since the group was founded by Iraqi militant Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and declared a caliphate in large parts of Syria and Iraq in June 2014 before its defeat years later.
He said HTS would continue to fight “evil acts” by IS in rebel-held parts of Syria, adding that had his group been behind al-Qurayshi’s death “we would have given the good news to Muslims and announced it directly.” Al-Qurayshi was the fourth IS leader to be killed since the group was founded by Iraqi militant Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and declared a caliphate in large parts of Syria and Iraq in June 2014 before its defeat years later.