{"id":71214,"date":"2019-11-04T22:12:00","date_gmt":"2019-11-04T22:12:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2019\/11\/04\/turkey-says-it-captured-al-baghdadis-sister-in-syria\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T13:56:46","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T13:56:46","slug":"turkey-says-it-captured-al-baghdadis-sister-in-syria","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/flashpoints\/2019\/11\/04\/turkey-says-it-captured-al-baghdadis-sister-in-syria\/","title":{"rendered":"Turkey says it captured al-Baghdadi\u2019s sister in Syria"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

BEIRUT \u2014 Turkey captured the elder sister of the slain leader of the Islamic State group<\/a> in northwestern Syria on Monday, according to a senior Turkish official, who called the arrest an intelligence \u201cgold mine.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Little is known about the sister of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. The Turkish official said the 65-year-old known as Rasmiya Awad is suspected of being affiliated with the extremist group. He did not elaborate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Awad was captured in a raid Monday evening on a trailer container she was living in with her family near the town of Azaz in Aleppo province. The area is part of the region administered by Turkey after it carried out a military incursion to chase away IS militants and Kurdish fighters starting 2016. Allied Syrian groups manage the area known as the Euphrates Shield zone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The official said the sister was with her husband, daughter-in-law and five children. The adults are being interrogated, he said, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with government protocol.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis kind of thing is an intelligence gold mine. What she knows about (IS) can significantly expand our understanding of the group and help us catch more bad guys,\u201d the official said.<\/p>\n\n\n\t