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Rasmiya Awad, believed to be the sister of slain Islamic State 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 photo provided by Turkish security officials. (Photo: Reuters)
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Turkey claims it captured the sister of slain Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in northern Syria on Monday.
Reuters quoted a senior Turkish official who said Baghdadi’s sister Rasmiya Awad, 65, was arrested in the Turkish-controlled Syrian town of Azaz along with her husband and daughter-in-law. Five children were also present at the time of the raid.
According to the unnamed official, all three detainees are being interrogated.
“We hope to gather a trove of intelligence from Baghdadi’s sister on the inner workings of ISIS,” he said.
“What she knows about [ISIS] can significantly expand our understanding of the group and help us catch more bad guys.”
Kurdistan 24 was unable to immediately verify if the captured woman was indeed Baghdadi’s sister.
Left: A woman, believed to be the daughter-in-law of Rasmiya Awad; Right: A man, believed to be the husband of Rasmiya Awad. (Photo: Reuters)
Fahrettin Altun, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s communications director, said the capture demonstrates Turkey’s commitment in the fight against the Islamic State.
The news comes a week after a US raid in the northwestern Syrian province of Idlib, where Baghdadi was killed.
Turkey currently has around 1,200 foreign Islamic State members in its prisons, including relatives of the suspects.
On Monday, Turkey’s Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu warned that Ankara would return foreign Islamic State detainees to their native countries, even if their citizenship had been revoked.
Read More: Turkey warns it will repatriate over 1,200 foreign ISIS detainees
On Oct. 28, authorities in Turkey said they detained 20 foreign nationals with suspected ties to the Islamic State.