Turkey captures sister of dead IS leader in Syria

ALEX WONG / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / AFP

The sister of dead IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has been captured in northern Syria.

That's according to Turkish officials, who said 65-year-old Rasmiya Awad was detained during a raid on Monday.

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

Her husband and daughter-in-law, who were also detained, are being interrogated.

When captured, she was also accompanied by five children.

"The arrest of al-Baghdadi's sister is yet another example of the success of our counter-terrorism operations," Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan's communications director Fahrettin Altun wrote on Twitter early Tuesday.

Baghdadi killed himself last month during a raid by US special forces on his compound in north-west Syria.

More from International News

  • SpaceX's Starship makes orbital debut but flight ends early

    SpaceX's next-generation Starship rocket reached orbit for the first time on Monday despite having one of its engines shut down unexpectedly, overcoming a hitch mid-flight to deploy its first batch of new Starlink satellites in a truncated mission ending hours earlier than originally planned.

  • UK police release five on bail after arrests at airbase

    British police said on Monday they were investigating whether individuals acting for a foreign state were involved in an apparent plot to attack an airbase used by the United States but said five suspects they had arrested would be released on bail.

  • Thousands huddle in Bangkok shelters as Thai flood damages seen at $320 mln

    Thousands sheltered on Monday in evacuation centres in the Thai capital, parts of it still flooded after havoc brought by intense weekend rain, while swelling reservoirs in an eastern province triggered orders for more to leave their homes.

  • Floods, landslides kill 56 in India and 14 in Nepal

    Heavy rain and storms have triggered floods and landslides that killed 56 people in India, while in Nepal, 14 have died and another 11 are missing, with authorities warning on Sunday that more flash floods are possible.

Blogs