Report: IS leader’s uncle arrested in Iraq

Two relatives of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of the Islamic State, were arrested in central Iraq in an operation on Sunday, according to an Iraqi security source.

“A group from the Regiment Special Assignments was able to arrest Baghdadi’s uncle, named Saleh Ibrahim Abdulmomen and niece’s husband Dhiya Nouri Sadoun,” a source from the southern Dhi Qar governorate’s police stated, according to the Saudi news source al-Arabiya.

“The detainees are among the top level of ISIS commanders in Samarra,” the security source added.

The reported raid occurred in the city of Samarra, Baghdadi’s hometown, 125 kilometers (78 miles) from the Iraqi capital.

The Islamic State group has fought a violent war against government forces and Kurdish peshmerga in Syria and Iraq, capturing large swaths of territory in both countries and declaring a self-proclaimed caliphate in areas under its control.

Baghdadi, who came from humble origins, became the leader of the extremist group in 2010 and is currently one of the world’s most wanted men, as the United States has placed a $10 million bounty on his head.

The Islamic State is being targeted in a large-scale, international military campaign seeking to halt the Sunni extremist group’s advance in the region.

The US-led coalition targeted 13 Islamic State positions in Iraq and Syria on Saturday, striking buildings, troop formations, a rocket system and site where improvised explosives were made, according to a statement by the Combined Joint Task Force.

Last week, a Jordanian air force general claimed that over 7,000 Islamic State fighters have been killed by coalition forces.