Just a day after the United States announced the killing of Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the Sunni militant group replaced him with a former Iraqi military officer. US President Donald Trump said Sunday that al-Baghdadi, the self-proclaimed caliph of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), died by blowing himself up. He reportedly did so after being cornered by US special forces while barricaded in his hideout in the northwestern village of Barisha, which is located in the Syrian province of Idlib near the border with Turkey.
Since Sunday's announcement from the White House, ISIS has remained silent. But an intelligence source reportedly told Newsweek that the Sunni militant group has already appointed a new leader just hours after al-Baghdadi's murder. The US newspaper quoted a "regional intelligence official" as asking "not to be identified". The official said al-Baghdadi was replaced with Abdullah Qardash, a former high-ranking officer in the Iraqi army, who served under the country's late leader Saddam Hussein. Qardash's name is often spelled Karshesh in English, and in some documents he is also referred to as Hajji Abdullah al-Afari, probably his ISIS moniker.
In August of this year, al-Baghdadi reportedly appointed Qardash to head the religious affairs office of ISIS, known as "Muslim Affairs". The appointment is believed to have been accepted and was even announced to Amaq, the militant group's semi-official news agency. But Qardash's name was no longer mentioned in subsequent ISIS releases. According to Newsweek, the former Iraqi army officer had already "taken on a number of duties from al-Baghdadi" before the latter's demise. The unnamed regional intelligence officer told the news that al-Baghdadi's role within ISIS has been "largely symbolic" in recent months. He was “a figurehead and was not involved in day-to-day operations. All he did was say yes or no, no planning, ”the intelligence official added.
