ISIS acknowledges Baghdadi's death, names new leader

ISIS has acknowledged the death of its leader for the first time.

A U.S. military operation killed Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi on Saturday evening, leaving the terrorist group without one of its most formative leaders. ISIS seemed to go on without mentioning Baghdadi's death, but finally did so for the first time Thursday by naming Baghdadi's successor, multiple sources report.

Abu Ibrahim Hashimi al-Quraishi has been named the new leader of ISIS, NBC News partner Flashpoint reported via a message from ISIS's official media wing. It also noted that Baghdadi, as well as former ISIS spokesperson Abu Hassan al-Muhajir, were dead, the terrorism monitor SITE Intel Group reports.

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President Trump announced Baghdadi's death on Sunday, and followed that up Tuesday with the news that Muhajir was "terminated by American troops" hours after the Baghdadi operation. Trump didn't mention Mujahir's name at the time, but did call him Baghdadi's "No. 1 replacement." The Mujahir mission was in coordination with Kurdish forces, who Trump has moved to leave without U.S. backup in Syria.