Turkey Captures Sister of Dead ISIS Leader al-Baghdadi in Syria, Say Turkish Officials

Rasmiya Awad, believed to be the sister of slain ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who was captured on Monday in the northern Syrian town of Azaz by Turkish security officials, is seen in an unknown location in an undated picture provided by Turkish security officials. Turkish Security Officials/Handout via Reuters

Turkey captured the sister of dead ISIS terrorist group leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi on Monday in the northern Syrian town of Azaz, a senior Turkish official told Reuters, and is interrogating her husband and daughter-in-law who were also detained.

Rasmiya Awad, 65, was detained in a raid near Azaz, the official said, referring to a Turkish-controlled Syrian town near the border. When captured, she was also accompanied by five children.

“We hope to gather a trove of intelligence from Baghdadi’s sister on the inner workings of ISIS,” the official said.

Little independent information is available on Baghdadi’s sister and Reuters was not immediately able to verify if the captured individual was her.

Baghdadi killed himself last month when cornered in a tunnel during a raid by U.S. Special Forces in northwestern Syria. ISIS, in an audiotape posted online on Thursday, confirmed that its leader had died and vowed revenge against the United States.

This file image made from video posted on a militant website April 29, 2019, purports to show the leader of ISIS, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, being interviewed by his group's Al-Furqan media outlet. Al-Furqan media via AP, File

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan’s communications director said the woman’s capture was evidence of Turkey’s determination to fight against ISIS.

“The arrest of al-Baghdadi’s sister is yet another example of the success of our counter-terrorism operations,” Fahrettin Altun wrote on Twitter early on Tuesday.

“Much dark propaganda against Turkey has been circulating to raise doubts about our resolve against Daesh,” he wrote, using another name for ISIS.

“Our strong counter-terrorism cooperation with like-minded partners can never be questioned.”

A woman, believed to be the daughter-in-law of Rasmiya Awad, sister of slain ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who was captured on Monday in the northern Syrian town of Azaz by Turkish security officials, is seen in an unknown location in an undated picture provided by Turkish security officials. Turkish Security Officials/Handout via Reuters

Baghdadi had risen from obscurity to lead the ultra-hardline group and declare himself “caliph” of all Muslims, holding sway over huge areas of Iraq and Syria from 2014-2017 before ISIS control was wrested away by U.S.-led coalition forces including Iraqis and Syrian Kurds.

The group, also known as ISIS, said a successor to Baghdadi identified as Abu Ibrahim al-Hashemi al-Quraishi had been appointed. A senior U.S. official last week said Washington was looking at the new leader to determine where he came from.

World leaders welcomed his death, but they and security experts warned that the group, which carried out atrocities against religious minorities and horrified most Muslims, remained a security threat in Syria and beyond.

A man believed to be the husband of Rasmiya Awad, sister of slain ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who was captured on Monday in the northern Syrian town of Azaz by Turkish security officials is seen in an unknown location in an undated picture provided by Turkish security officials. Turkish Security Officials/Handout via Reuters

By Humeyra Pamuk