SULAIMANI (ESTA) — Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi on Monday announced the detention of a deputy of slain Islamic State (ISIS) leader Abu Bakir al-Baghdadi.
Baghdadi said in a tweet that units of the Iraqi national intelligence service had detained Sami Jasim, who was in charge of ISIS finance.
“While our ISF heroes focused on securing the elections, their INIS colleagues were conducting a complex external operation to capture Sami Jasim, who was in charge of Daesh finance, and a deputy of Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi,” Kadhimi said.
Baghdad was killed in a raid by U.S. special forces in northwestern Syria in 2019.
The U.S. state Department had at the time offered a reward for information leading to the location of ISIS leaders it identified including Jasim, according to Reuters.
In a separate statement, Iraqi security media cell said Jasim, who was known as “Abu Asia” and “Abu Abdul Qadir al-Zubaidi”, was detained in a special operation outside the border of Iraq.
“He is close to the current leader of the organization, criminal Abdullah Qardash,” it added.
*This story was updated at 10:21 a.m. EBL time
