A Turkish court ordered the arrest of a "senior" Daesh terrorist, who was captured in an operation in Istanbul on Friday.
Terrorist Bashar Khattab Ghazal al-Sumaidai, codenamed "Abu Zeid," was captured in a successful operation by the Turkish intelligence and Istanbul Police, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan told reporters on the return flight after his three-day Balkan tour late Thursday.
Al-Sumaidai, who testified before the Terrorism and Organized Crime Investigation Bureau of the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, was transferred to the Istanbul Criminal Court of Peace on Duty.
Accompanied by his lawyer, he was arrested by the Istanbul Criminal Court of Peace on charges of "violating the Constitution."
A United Nations Security Council report published on July 11, 2022, said the terrorist took part in the management of the Daesh terrorist group.
According to the report, on Feb. 3, Daesh leader Amir Muhammad Sa'id Abdal-Rahman al-Salbi was killed in a U.S.-led operation in Atmah, near the Turkish border, and on March 10, Daesh announced that Abu al-Hassan al-Hashemi al-Qurashi would take his place.
Although the actual identity of Abu al-Hassan has not yet been determined, it is considered among the member states that this person is most likely al-Sumaidai from Iraq.
After a meteoric rise in 2014 in Iraq and Syria that saw it conquer vast swathes of territory, Daesh saw its self-proclaimed "caliphate" collapse under a wave of offensives.
It was defeated in Iraq in 2017 and in Syria two years later, but sleeper cells of the extremist group still carry out attacks in both countries.
In 2013, Türkiye became one of the first countries to declare Daesh a terrorist group.
The country has since been attacked by the terrorist group multiple times, with over 300 people killed and hundreds more injured in at least 10 suicide bombings, seven bomb attacks and four armed assaults.
In response, Türkiye launched counterterrorism operations at home and abroad to prevent further attacks.
