ANKARA: A woman, believed to be the sister of former Islamic State group leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, has been captured in northern Syria on Monday, Turkish authorities said, according to BBC. This came a week after the terrorist group’s leader killed himself during a United States military raid.
The woman, 65-year-old Rasmiya Awad, was detained during a raid near the Syrian town of Azaz, officials said. They claimed that Awad’s arrest could lead to valuable information about the terrorist group. “We hope to gather a trove of intelligence from Baghdadi’s sister on the inner workings of ISIS,” an unidentified official told Reuters.
Turkish officials said the woman was captured on Monday evening from a trailer in the town located in Aleppo province. She was accompanied by her husband and daughter-in-law, who were being interrogated, and five children.
Reports said that little independent information on Baghdadi’s sister was available and there was no clarity on whether the woman arrested was definitely the ISIS chief’s sister.
The terrorist had five brothers and multiple sisters but it is unclear whether they are still alive, according to a report in The New York Times.
On October 31, the Islamic State group confirmed Baghdadi’s death and named Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi its new leader. A day before that the United States released a video and photographs of the special forces raid in a compound in Idlib, Syria, during which Baghdadi killed himself.
United States President Donald Trump had announced Baghdadi’s death, and had claimed that he died after running into a tunnel while he was “whimpering” and “crying”.
(Agencies)
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