Turkey captures Baghdadi's sister in Syria

Duvar English

Turkey has captured the sister of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who was killed last month, in the Turkish-controlled Syrian town of Azaz.

Rasmiya Awad, 65, was detained in a raid near Azaz on Nov. 4, alongside her husband and daughter-in-law.

When captured, she was also accompanied by five children.

Presidential Communications Director Fahrettin Altun praised the operation.

"Turkey's fight against terror regardless of its ideology or origin continues unabated. The arrest of al-Baghdadi's sister is yet another example of the success of our counter-terrorism operations," Altun tweeted early on Nov. 5.

"Our determination to bring justice to those who seek to terrorize our people and destabilize our region cannot be questioned," he added.

Altun also slammed the "dark propaganda" against Turkey.

"Much dark propaganda against Turkey has been circulating to raise doubts about our resolve against Daesh. We have been leading in the fight against terrorism in all its forms. Our strong counter-terrorism cooperation with like-minded partners can never be questioned," he said, using an Arabic acronym for ISIS.

Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu also commented on the issue, saying that necessary inquiries are being carried out by those in Azaz.

The authorities are seeking to obtain information regarding ISIS' works from Awad.

Baghdadi killed himself last month when cornered in a tunnel during a raid by U.S. special forces in northwestern Syria.

ISIS, in an audio tape posted online last week, confirmed that its leader had died and vowed revenge against the United States.

The group said a successor to Baghdadi identified as Abu Ibrahim al-Hashemi al-Quraishi had been appointed. A senior U.S. official last week said Washington was looking at the new leader to determine where he came from.