ISIS’s alleged new leader, Abu al-Hassan al-Qurayshi, has been captured in a recent raid in Istanbul on Thursday, Turkish news outlet Odatv reported.
Anti-terrorism police and National Intelligence Organization (NIO) units detained a man they believe is the current leader of the extremist group ISIS since its previous chief was killed in a US operation in Syria in February, the officials told Odatv.
The previous leader, Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi suffered the same end as his predecessor al-Baghdadi, who was killed in a US operation in Idlib in October 2019.
Turkish officials said the ISIS leader was captured following lengthy police surveillance and intel gathering of a house where he was staying in Istanbul. Police reportedly “didn’t fire a single bullet” during the raid, and no casualties were reported.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been informed of his capture, the officials said Thursday and he is expected to announce the arrest in the coming days, OdaTV said.
History with ISIS
Turkish forces have clashed with ISIS militants at home and in neighboring Syria over recent years, ousting the extremist fighters from several towns near Turkey’s border.
ISIS had largely focused its attacks on Kurdish nationalists and their Turkish sympathizers. This allowed ISIS to send the message that it has the resources to stage operations within Turkey, but without targeting Turks per se. All of this has fed claims that Turkey has been at best turning a blind eye, at worst actively supporting ISIS against their common enemies, the Kurds.
In recent months, caving in to Western pressure, Turkey has finally begun to crack down on the jihadists in earnest, raiding their cells, arresting their members, and making it harder for them to slip in and out of Syria, according to Turkish media.