Türkiye nabs senior Daesh member in blow to terror group

One of the most senior executives of the Daesh terrorist group has been captured by Turkish security forces, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced, without elaborating when the terrorist was nabbed.

President Erdogan said on Thursday the police and Turkish intelligence carried out an important operation against Daesh and captured Bashar Hattab Ghazal al Sumaidai, code-named Abu Zeyd and Master Zeyd.

"After [Abu Bakr] Baghdadi and [Abdul Nasser] Qardash, he is one of the most important leaders of Daesh," Erdogan told reporters on board his flight home from a three-nation tour of the Balkans. 

"This terrorist's connections in Syria and Istanbul had been followed for a long time, and intelligence information was obtained that he would enter Türkiye illegally," Erdogan said.

"During the interrogation, there are his statements that he was a so-called 'qadi' in the so-called ministry of education and the ministry of justice," Erdogan said.

A qadi is a judge in a sharia court.

READ MORE: Turkish police arrest Daesh terror suspects wanted by Interpol

UN report mentions Zeyd

A UN Security Council report published on July 11, 2022, said Sumaidai took part in the management of the terrorist organisation. 

On February 3, Daesh leader Amir Muhammad Sa'id Abdal Rahman al Salbi was killed in the US-led operation in Atmah, near the Turkish border, the UN report said.

Daesh acknowledged that their leader was killed and announced that Abu al Hassan al Hashemi al Qurashi would lead the group. 

"Although the true identity of Abu al Hassan has not yet been determined, it is considered among the member states that this person is most likely Bashar Khattap Ghazal al Sumaidai," the UN said.

READ MORE: US-led coalition 'detains' senior Daesh leader in northern Syria raid

Daesh's expansion

After a meteoric rise in 2014 in Iraq and Syria that saw it conquer vast swathes of territory, Daesh saw its self-proclaimed "caliphate" collapse under a wave of offensives.

It was defeated in Iraq in 2017 and in Syria two years later, but sleeper cells of the group still carry out attacks in both countries.

Syria's civil war began in 2011 and has killed nearly half a million people and forced around half of the country's pre-war population from their homes.

READ MORE: Turkish police detain Daesh suspects in Istanbul raids