IS selected Abu al-Hussein al-Husseini al-Quraishi as its new leader, a spokesman for the group said in a recording. He did not offer further details on the new leader.
Deraa returned to Syrian army control in 2018 following Russian-brokered reconciliation deals that saw rebels hand over heavy weapons and be incorporated into pro-government units. Local sources said Quraishi was among dozens of IS fighters who came to southern Syria earlier this year from other hideouts in the sparsely populated Syrian desert, where they had taken shelter after losing their last enclave in Syria in 2019.The southern province had become a flashpoint of fighting in recent months as IS fighters waged hit-and-run attacks against the Syrian army and their allies in the desert areas at an increasing pace, according to Western intelligence sources.
“It is really a matter of finding the least bad option: in general this means where the US-led coalition has the least surveillance and fewest intelligence assets,” he said, which included southern zones.
Symbol of death and mayhem