Turkey said it captured the sister of dead Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al Baghdadi during a raid in northern Syria.
A senior Turkish official told Reuters that Rasmiya Awad, 65, her husband, and her daughter-in-law were detained Monday and are being interrogated. Awad was with five children when she was captured, the official said.
“We hope to gather a trove of intelligence from Baghdadi’s sister on the inner workings of ISIS,” the official said.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s communications director said the arrest of the woman proved Turkey was committed to fighting 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 the terror group. “Our strong counter-terrorism cooperation with like-minded partners can never be questioned.”
Turkey’s fight against terror regardless of its ideology or origin continues unabated.
The arrest of al-Baghdadi’s sister is yet another example of the success of our counter-terrorism operations.
— Fahrettin Altun (@fahrettinaltun) November 4, 2019
Much dark propaganda against Turkey has been circulating to raise doubts about our resolve against Daesh.
We have been leading in the fight against terrorism in all its forms.Our strong counter-terrorism cooperation with like-minded partners can never be questioned.
— Fahrettin Altun (@fahrettinaltun) November 4, 2019
Reuters was not able to verify that the woman who was detained was Baghdadi’s sister and little is known about her.
Baghdadi detonated his suicide vest, killing himself and three children, when he was cornered in an underground tunnel during a raid by U.S. special operations forces in northwestern Syria last month.
