UNITED NATIONS, February 9. /TASS/. The raid conducted by the United States in Syria against Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi, the leader of the Islamic State terrorist group (outlawed in Russia), can hardly be called a success, Russia’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations Gennady Kuzmin said at a UN Security Council session on Wednesday.

"It is hard to label the recent operation carried out by the US Special Forces to eliminate a terrorist leader as a success," Kuzmin said.

According to the diplomat, the US attempts to prove that they do have control over the situation "on the ground" frequently result in death of numerous civilians.

On February 3, the White House released a written statement by US President Joe Biden, in which he said that US military forces had carried out a counterterrorism operation in northwestern Syria that killed IS leader al-Qurayshi. According to the Associated Press’ sources, at least 13 people were killed during the overnight raid carried out on Syrian territory, near the Turkish border.

The US administration admitted at a briefing on February 3 that children were killed in the operation against al-Qurayshi. Washington believes that the gunmen are to be blamed. According to a senior US administration official, there was a huge explosion during the raid, which killed the IS leader and several others, including his wife and children.