Daesh Leader Reportedly Caught Living in Turkey, Captured by Police in Istanbul Raid

The information, which has yet to be verified, is reminiscent of the US SEAL Team operation to liquidate Osama bin Laden, who was caught living in a mansion in an elite Pakistani neighbourhood in 2011 while US forces engaged in a fruitless years-long search for the al-Qaeda* leader in neighbouring Afghanistan.

Abu al-Hassan al-Qurayshi, the terrorist who took over as Daesh (ISIS)* commander-in-chief in February, has been captured in a raid on his Istanbul home by Turkey’s anti-terror police and intelligence agents, Turkey’s OdaTV has reported, citing officials familiar with the matter.

The operation was reportedly conducted last week after days of observation of al-Qurayshi’s house, and was said to have been personally commanded by Istanbul Police Chief Zafer Aktas. The raid went off without a hitch, with no shots fired.

After his capture, al-Qurayshi was interrogated by Turkey’s National Intelligence Organisation and the national police’s counterterrorism department, with “very important information” about the “unknowns of the organisation” obtained, according to OdaTV. The outlet did not elaborate.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was said to have been informed on the matter, and is expected to provide details on the terror leader’s capture in the coming days.

A Turkish source confirmed al-Qurayshi's capture to Sky News Arabia. The outlet said the terrorist leader, the first to be captured alive, should be a "treasure trove of secrets".

Al-Qurayshi’s predecessor, Abu Ibrahim al-Qurayshi, was killed in a US raid in an area of north-western Syria controlled by the Turkish-backed Syrian Salvation Government in February. Al-Qurayshi was successor to Daesh "Caliph" Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who died during a US Special Forces raid in October 2019 in the same region after self-detonating a suicide vest, taking two of his children with him.

Turkey is part of a large international coalition of nations fighting Daesh, and has engaged in multiple operations to track and destroy the terrorist group’s commanders and militants near the Turkish border. Syria has accused Ankara of providing shelter to Daesh members, buying stolen historical artefacts and oil off them, and supplying them with weapons. In February, Turkey’s CHP opposition demanded answers from the government after a probe by the Financial Crimes Investigation Board found that jihadists had used Turkey to traffic funds and obtain weapons, including drones.

* Terrorist groups outlawed in Russia and many other countries.