Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has announced that a “key” leader of the terrorist group of the Islamic State has been captured in the country, reports the Turkish network Ntv cited by the Russian agency Tass.
Erdogan made the announcement to reporters aboard his plane upon returning from a trip to Croatia. The terrorist was identified as Bashar Khattab Ghazal al-Sumaidai, ISIS number three after Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi who died in 2019 and Abu Hassan al-Hashemi al-Qurashi, believed to be Baghdadi’s brother and current leader of the terrorist organization.
The Turkish president said the militant was arrested in Istanbul while attempting to enter Turkey. The man tried to disguise himself by wearing a wig and using false documents, but he was identified and arrested as he had been placed under surveillance long before the attempt to cross the Turkish border.