Turkish police say the number one ISIS figure was arrested

A close aide of killed ISIS group leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi has been caught in Istanbul, police said Sunday.

The Afghan national, only identified by the code-name Basim, was detained within the Atasehir district on the city’s Asian side on Wednesday, consistent with an Istanbul police statement.

News reports of the joint operation with Turkey’s intelligence said the suspect had been involved in helping hide Al-Baghdadi in Syria’s Idlib province after the autumn of the group in 2019.

Al-Baghdadi was killed during a raid on his Syrian hideout by US Special Forces in October 2019, The Associated Press reported.

Turkish media published a photograph of a balding, bearded man during a light coat following the arrest and an earlier image, purportedly of an equivalent person, showing a long-haired, heavily bearded man in military fatigues wielding a curved sword.

The Demiroren press agency said Basim was suspected of organizing training for ISIS while in Syria and Iraq, also as serving on its decision-making council.

He arrived in Turkey with a false passport and card , the agency said.

Turkey regularly detains ISIS suspects, many allegedly planning attacks within the country.