The ultra-radical Islamic State (IS) organization confirmed Thursday the death of its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, five days after the announcement of his death by Donald Trump in a US operation in Syria, and named his successor by threatening United States retaliation.
"O Muslims, O moujahidines, soldiers of the IS (...), we mourn the commander of the believers Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi," said Abu Hamza Al-Qourachi, presented as the new spokesman for the extremist organization , in an audio message posted on the Telegram app.
The IS added that "Majlis al-Shura (the Consultative Assembly in Arabic, Ed) has pledged allegiance to Abu Ibrahim al-Hashemi al-Qurachi as" commander of the believers "and new" caliph of the Muslims " . This name was rarely mentioned among the potential successors of Baghdadi, whose death has been reported many times in recent years.
"IS Judge"
"We do not know much about him, except that he is the main judge of the IS and he heads the Sharia (Islamic Law) Authority," Hicham al-Hashemi told AFP. , an Iraqi expert on IS.
It was US President Donald Trump who announced Sunday, from the White House, the death of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, considered responsible for multiple atrocities and atrocities in Iraq and Syria and bloody attacks.
On Wednesday, the Pentagon broadcast several photos and video clips where we see a dozen soldiers approach, in the night of Saturday to Sunday, the compound of the complex where was hidden the jihadist leader in the village of Baricha, in northwestern Syria. Accused by US forces, the IS leader blew himself up with his "jacket" charged with explosives as he took refuge in a tunnel dug for protection. "He died like a dog," said Donald Trump.
Read also >> The story of the last hours of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi
In his seven-minute audio recording, the new spokesman for the jihadist organization called for revenge for the death, specifically threatening the US with retaliation and calling the president a "foolish old man." "Do not rejoice America (...)," he said. "He came who will make you forget the horrors" of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and "the bitter cuts (...) whose taste will seem sweet to you," added the organization in reference to its new leader.
Since he proclaimed himself, in 2014, "caliph" of a territory that counted up to seven million inhabitants, straddling Iraq and Syria, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi had become the most wanted man in the world. His death was announced several times, but all attempts to eliminate the 48-year-old Iraqi had so far failed, as the imam was living in the shadows.
"We expect everything"
His successor inherited a jihadist movement that had to, after the fall of his "caliphate" in March and other military defeats, dissolve into a multitude of clandestine cells in Syria and Iraq, with difficult communications in countries in full chaos.
The new jihadist leader may be ordered to command some 14,000 fighters scattered in Syria and Iraq and to be closer to the current leader of al-Qaeda, the Egyptian Ayman al-Zawahiri, said Wednesday Russ Travers, acting director of the National Counterterrorism Center, the body that oversees the fight against terrorism in the United States.
In the audio message broadcast on Thursday, the spokesman of the IS also referred to the appeal of the former head of the jihadist group for the release of IS detainees in prisons and camps. controlled by Kurdish forces. These claim to hold about 12,000 suspected IS jihadists, including more than 2,000 foreigners from more than 50 countries.
Kurdish forces in Syria, Washington's partners in the IS-fighting years, feared retaliation by the group after Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi's death. "Everything is expected, including attacks on prisons," said Mazloum Abdi, commander-in-chief of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), referring to Kurdish-run centers that house thousands of jihadists.
The body of the head of the IS was immersed at sea, according to a Pentagon official, a decision to prevent a possible grave from becoming a place of pilgrimage.