The arrest of a prominent ISIS member in Istanbul
Bassem was arrested in the Atasehir neighborhood, while he was the right arm of his former commander, Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi.
On Sunday, May 2, local media reported that a senior ISIS official considered the right arm of its former leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, had been arrested by the police in Istanbul.
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Police officers arrested this Afghani whose code name is “”Basim», During a raid in the Atasehir neighborhood on the Asian side of the city. Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi was killed in 2019 in a raid by the US Special Forces, which it carried out with the help of Kurdish fighters in the Syrian province of Idlib in northwestern Syria.
Turkish media reported that Bassem helped Al-Baghdadi hide in Idlib. He was also responsible for “The military branchNTV television reported that he was from the jihadist group. The channel said that he arrived in Istanbul with a false passport and identity card. According to the Dubai Health Authority News Agency, he was arrested on April 28.
Turkey has stepped up its fight against Islamic State, which orchestrated deadly attacks in the country, including the shooting of an Istanbul nightclub that killed 39 people in 2017.