Turkey captures ‘senior’ Daesh leader: Recep Erdogan

 

Turkey’s police and intelligence agency captured Bashar Hattab Ghazal Al-Sumaidai, a senior Daesh member codenamed Abu Zeyd. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced the news.

Al-Sumaidai, long associated with Daesh, was captured in the country in an operation carried out by police and Turkey’s intelligence agency.

Al-Sumaidai reportedly confessed that he was a qadi, or judge, in a Shariah court in the terror group’s ministries of education and justice. He reportedly entered Turkey months ago using a fake ID. Reportedly, he was transferred to judicial authorities in Turkey after his interrogation by police and intelligence personnel. The National Intelligence Organization (MIT) and the Istanbul police interrogated him.

Earlier, he was identified by a United Nations Security Council (UNSC) report published in July as “one of the senior executives of the ISIL terrorist organisation.” UNSC also said that the senior terrorist took part in the management of the terror group.

According to various sources and media reports, Turkish authorities must have extracted significant information about Daesh’s network in Syria and Iraq from him before handing him over to the judicial authorities in the country on the order of the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office.

Turkish media said there were some indications that Al-Sumaidai may be the man known as Abu Hasan al-Hashimi al-Qurashi, an Iraqi who is the new self-proclaimed leader of the entire ISIS group. However, the Turkish President referred to Al-Sumaidai as a top ISIS official in Syria.

According to the media report, Daesh leader Amir Muhammad Sa'id Abdal-Rahman al-Salbi was killed in the U.S.-led operation in Atmah, near the Turkish border. Subsequently, Daesh announced that Abu l-Hassan al-Hashemi al-Qurashi would take his place.

In 2013, Turkey declared Daesh a terrorist group. Turkey has since been attacked by the terrorist group multiple times, including seven bomb attacks and four armed assaults.