The sister of slain Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was captured and detained Monday, Turkish officials confirmed to Reuters.  Rasmiya Awad, 65, was captured in Northwestern Syria with her husband and daughter-in-law.  She was also with five children at the time of her capture. 

“We hope to gather a trove of intelligence from Baghdadi’s sister on the inner workings of ISIS,” the official said. 

“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,” Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan’s communications director said on Twitter Monday night. 

Last month, al-Baghdadi was killed in an intense raid conducted by U.S. troops at his compound in Northwestern Syria.  The IS terrorist leader fled to a dead-end tunnel with three children, where he detonated a suicide vest. 

“Baghdadi’s demise demonstrates America’s relentless pursuit of terrorist leaders and our commitment to the enduring and total defeat of ISIS and other terrorist organizations,” President Donald Trump said in his speech following the successful operation. 

Just confirmed that Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s number one replacement has been terminated by American troops.  Most likely would have taken the top spot – Now he is also Dead! —  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 29, 2019

Days later, President Trump announced that U.S. troops had successfully killed al-Baghdadi’s “number one replacement.” 

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