Leader of the Islamic State Killed by Turkish Special Forces

A few weeks ago, US Central Command announced that an instrumental international IS operative was killed by a drone strike, dealing a huge blow to the terror organisation. Turkish special forces likely put the final nail in the coffin of the Islamic State when they announced that their special forces had killed IS leader Abu al-Hussein al-Husseini al-Qurashi in Syria. Announced by President Recep Erdogan, the Turkish intelligence forces initiated the raid in the town of Jindares, in Aleppo, an area occupied by Turkish rebels. Qurashi's headquarters was a small house on the border of the town in a field of olive trees. (www.aljazeera.com, 2023b)

The death of the IS leader comes at a time of uncertainty on the Turkish-Syrian border. Not only is IS still operating, though on a smaller scale than they were in 2014, but there is also friction between the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Force. The group, who receives funds from the US, has been the target of Turkish air raids after an explosion occurred in Istanbul. The Turkish government blamed Kurdish groups and began to launch attacks on the SDF, even threatening ground attacks with troops. The leader of the SDF, per Epstein (2023), believes that the attacks from Turkey will only allow ISIS to thrive. He said, "There is no doubt that Daesh [A province of Islamic State] will benefit more than anyone else from this Turkish offensive."

In recent times, a multifaceted assault on Islamic States from all fronts has crippled the group to near destruction. Not only did the US kill an IS operative who was instrumental in the planning of attacks on Europe, but also counter-terror assaults from the Taliban have killed a senior member of the terror organisation. In late April, Taliban counter-terror operations against IS killed a senior leader of the group unexpectedly. The IS leader, whose identity has not yet been released, planned the Abbey Gate Airport bombing which killed nearly two hundred people, including Afghan civilians and US marines. (www.aljazeera.com, 2023a)

The Taliban may seem like an unlikely ally to the war on terror, but they are currently facing battles across the country with ISIL, the IS province in Afghanistan. The killing of such a high-profile individual may also open up diplomatic avenues for Western governments to begin talks with the Taliban government. It already seems as though the Taliban leadership is split, however, with US Special Envoy for Afghanistan Tom West stating that he mainly deals with officials in Kabul, with the group's more radical leaders based in Kandahar.

Despite all the infighting and ill-relations between these countries, their efforts have crippled the Islamic State. With such high-profile losses in the past few months, it seems that the group will struggle to recover. The group has named Qurashi's replacement, but that seems futile with all the opposition they face.

Reference list

Epstien, J. (2022). US military confirms that another ISIS leader has been killed in Syria, revealing that he was taken out in a raid by local forces. [online] uk.movies.yahoo.com. Available at: https://uk.movies.yahoo.com/us-military-confirms-another-isis-211201491.html?guccounter=1 [Accessed 13 May 2023].

www.aljazeera.com. (2023a). ISIL leader behind Kabul airport bombing killed, Taliban says. [online] Available at: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/4/25/isil-leader-behind-kabul-airport-bombing-killed-taliban-says?traffic_source=KeepReading [Accessed 13 May 2023].

www.aljazeera.com. (2023b). Suspected ISIL chief killed in Syria, says Turkish president. [online] Available at: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/5/1/erdogan-says-turkey-has-killed-suspected-isil-leader#:~:text=President%20Erdogan%20discloses%20intelligence%20operation [Accessed 13 May 2023].

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 Who are the White Helmets of Syria?

[Source:IndieWire]

The White Helmets are a group that not many people know but have likely seen. Most of the population remembers seeing white helmeted aid workers during the mass news coverage of the Syrian crisis. Most, including myself, assumed these were United Nations troops and aid workers. I was not introduced to the White Helmet organisation till recently after I saw them seeking donations to aid the thousands of Turkish and Syrian people affected by the recent 7.8 magnitude earthquake. As I looked into them more I found myself being drawn to their aid efforts but also the disinformation that clouds their reputation. 

The White Helmets, or the Syrian Civil Defence (SCD) as they are also known, started as a collective of much smaller local relief groups. Though the name Syrian Civil Defence makes the group sound like some local military group, the White Helmet's efforts began, and remained, purely to assist locals. As the Syrian Government lost control of their territory to Islamic State in 2012, civilians cried out for medical and rescue assistance. This is where the local organisations which would become the White Helmets began. Small, local groups would start to help trapped civilians, searching the rubble of bombed buildings for civilians. (Syrian Civil Defense, 2015) Gradually, these local groups, operating deep in IS-controlled territory began to receive training and funding from the wider international community. Western Nations and other NGOs began training the SCD in urban search and rescue to increase the group's success. The most notable and influential NGO to train the group was the Mayday Rescue Organisation, which was led by a man named James Le Mesurier, a former British Army captain. The smaller local groups would grow to over three-thousand members. In 2014, the SCD was formalised, with it establishing one hundred-eleven local centres over eight operational provinces, which included the IS hotbeds of Aleppo and Damascus. 

Whilst being active in the occupied territory of Syria, the White Helmets quickly became an enemy in the eyes of the Government. The group were targeted multiple times by the Syrian Government and Russian airstrikes. (Jan, 2015) As well as the threat of air attacks, the group also acted in areas occupied by the brutal Islamic State. Despite the dangers, the group set up crucial local infrastructures that would help over four million Syrians. (Winsor, 2023) Whilst the group supported the locals in IS-occupied Syria, the border media focus on them would soon shift to a much more negative one as the group became the target of a Russian disinformation campaign.

Terrorist Accusations

To the Syrian Government, the White Helmets were seen as a terrorist organisation. The aid the group offered to locals vilified them in the eyes of Assad and the Russian Government. The group began to be slandered in the media, with Russian state media claiming the group had links to Al-Qaeda. Through alt-right and pro-Russian online personalities, a conspiracy theory began that the White Helmets were a terrorist group masquerading as relief workers. Of course, there are no credible links between this aid group and Al-Qaeda. When this became apparent, the online conspiracy theories shifted. Instead of being linked to terrorism, the group was now portrayed as a UN puppet organisation that acted on Western interests. Alt-right internet personalities, such as Infowars' Alex Jones, even claimed that the White Helmets were funded by American billionaire George Soros and were carrying out gas attacks on Syrians. These claims were also completely bogus. The damage was done. The White Helmets became a controversial group, despite not actually being linked to the UN, American billionaires or Al-Qaeda. (Ellis, 2017) Completely separate from the claims of terrorism was the idea the group was not impartial, specifically tied to Turkey. This theory was proposed by the Kurdish Syrian Defence Force group. According to Kurdistan24 (2019), the White Helmets only entered the Afrin area of Syria after the Turkish Government took control of the region. urging them to believe that the White Helmets were working for the Turkish Government. In addition, many of the White Helmet members were formerly trained in Turkey, further bolstering the connection between the two. So, because of these proposed links to White Helmets became vilified in the Kurdish communities. Nicholas Heras, a leading security expert at the Center for New American Security, the SDF, and by extension the general Kurdish population, saw the White Helmets as a kind of 'trojan horse'. To them, the White Helmets were the puppets of the Turkish Government. 

The White Helmets Today

With the conflict in Syria over, the myth of a terrorist, Government aligned, gas-attacking White Helmets has essentially died out. They now act as a relief organisation, as they always have. Most recently, the group has been active in aiding the victims of the earthquake on the Turkish-Syrian border. In more recent times, the suspicious death of White Helmet co-founder James Le Mesurier has overshadowed the group. Le Mesurier would fall from his Istanbul apartment in 2019, killing him. Turkish authorities verified the death as a suicide, with there being no evidence of foul play during an autopsy. (Safi, 2019) Russian and Syrian-based media blamed Western intelligence services for his death, whilst conspiracy theorists online blamed Russian assassins. Even after his death, the White Helmets continue to be a heroic force in Syria, a country still in dire need of relief organisations that look after local communities with no resources. It's estimated that millions of Syrians were helped in some way by the help of the White Helmet organisation during the Syrian Civil War alone. To this day, they continue their relief efforts, helping those who need it most. 

Reference list

Catherine, J.J. (2019). Kurds say White Helmets not welcome to help fight fires in northeast Syria. [online] Kurdistan24. Available at: https://www.kurdistan24.net/en/news/15b19407-31f2-4709-ab99-580b6a66dc72 [Accessed 8 May 2023].

Ellis, E.G. (2017). Inside the Conspiracy Theory That Turned Syria’s First Responders Into Terrorists. [online] Wired. Available at: https://www.wired.com/2017/04/white-helmets-conspiracy-theory/ [Accessed 9 May 2023].

Jan, M. (2015). Q&A: Syria’s White Helmets. [online] www.aljazeera.com. Available at: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/8/21/qa-syrias-white-helmets [Accessed 8 May 2023].

Safi, M. (2019). No signs of foul play in death of White Helmets founder, say Turkish police. The Guardian. [online] 13 Nov. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/nov/13/no-signs-foul-play-death-white-helmets-founder-james-le-mesurier-turkish-police [Accessed 9 May 2023].

Syrian Civil Defense. (2015). Volunteers to Save Lives. [online] Available at: http://syriacivildefense.org/volunteers-save-lives [Accessed 8 May 2023].

Winsor, M. (2023). Who are the White Helmets? A group of ordinary Syrians doing the extraordinary. [online] ABC News. Available at: https://abcnews.go.com/International/white-helmets-group-ordinary-syrians-extraordinary/story?id=96971864#:~:text=The%20White%20Helmets%20says%20it [Accessed 9 May 2023].

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