Middle East & Africa | A name to die for

Leaders of Islamic State have a short life-expectancy

The organisation is diminished but not defeated

A member of Hashed Al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization units) removes a sign on a lamp post bearing the logo of the Islamic State (IS) group as Iraqi forces advance inside the town of Tal Afar, west of Mosul, after the Iraqi government announced the launch of the operation to retake it from IS control, on August 26, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / AHMAD AL-RUBAYE        (Photo credit should read AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP via Getty Images)
Few still rally to this bannerImage: AFP

Two things can be said with some confidence about the next leader of Islamic State (IS), the jihadist terror group that once controlled swathes of Iraq and Syria. He is likely to be called al-Qurayshi—and is unlikely to live to a great age. On April 30th Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, announced that in an operation the day before, run by his country’s intelligence agency, the latest leader of is, Abu Hussein al-Qurayshi, had been “neutralised”.

This article appeared in the Middle East & Africa section of the print edition under the headline “A name to die for”

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