This article'sfactual accuracy may be compromised due to out-of-date information. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(November 2019)
OnOctober 9, the United States took custody of two high-profile British members of IS previously held in Syria by Kurdish-led fighters of the Syrian Democratic Forces. US media reports identified the two asEl Shafee Elsheikh andAlexanda Amon Kotey. The two were members of the 4-member execution squad dubbed "The Beatles" by the Western media. They are part of an extremely violent four-man cell that kidnapped and tortured foreigners, including journalists, at the height of IS's power in Syria and Iraq. A third member of the group namedMohammed Emwazi, the notoriousJihadi John was killed in a drone attack on 12 November 2015 and the fourth,Aine Lesley Davis is in prison in Turkey.[2][3]
OnOctober 10, Indonesia's security ministerWiranto was injured after a stabbing attack perpetrated by Syahril Alamsyah, also known as Abu Rara, and his wife Fitri Andriana, both members of the bannedJamaah Ansharut Daulah (JAD), an IS-linked Indonesian terror group.[4] The same group carried out a series of attacks in Jakarta's business district known as the2016 Jakarta attacks as well as bombings of churches known as theSurabaya bombings in 2018.
OnOctober 27,Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the Iraqi-born leader and self-declared Caliph of the Islamic State (IS), killed himself by detonating a suicide vest during theBarisha raid, conducted by the U.S. 75th Ranger Regiment and the U.S. Delta Force, in Syria's northwesternIdlib Province.[5] The commander of the United States Central Command, GeneralKenneth F. McKenzie Jr., stated that al-Baghdadi also killed two children when he exploded his vest and was buried at sea after being offered Islamic funeral rites.[6] On 31 October 2019, IS confirmed that Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was dead,
OnOctober 31, less than a week after theBarisha raid leading to the death of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi,Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurashi was elected by a shura council as the new caliph of IS,[7] indicating that the group still considers itself a caliphate despite having lost all of its territory in Iraq and Syria, Al-Hashimi's appointment was supposedly done in accordance with the advice of al-Baghdadi, meaning the new emir was named as a successor by Baghdadi himself.[8]
OnNovember 4, Turkish authorities said they had captured a sister of the dead IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, Rasmiya Awad, in the northern Syrian town ofAzaz.[9] The authorities hope Awad may provide a trove of intelligence.[10]
OnNovember 6, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey had captured a wife of IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, more than a week after Baghdadi killed himself during a raid by US special forces. Al-Baghdadi was known to have four wives, the maximum number one can have under Islamic law at one time.[11]
On7 December, IS claimed the killing of Captain Mohammed Saleh Al Radfani inAden,Yemen.[12] He died from a gun wound and was a paramilitary security commander from the Security Belt Forces.[13]
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