The Islamic State is now “leaderless,” and that’s “a significant blow” to the group’s capabilities, the Pentagon said hours after Abu Ibrahim al Hashimi al Qurayshi, also known as Hajji Abdullah, killed himself and others as U.S. special operations forces closed in.

Al Qurayshi, who assumed the leadership role after Abu Bakr al Baghdadi killed himself as U.S. troops pursued him, “was a very hands-on leader and involved in many day-to-day operations of ISIS, and [he was] certainly keenly interested in restoring the lethality and a higher tempo that ISIS once enjoyed,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told reporters Thursday.