10 May 2018•Update: 10 May 2018
By Merve Aydogan
ANKARA
The United States President Donald Trump on Thursday announced that five "most wanted" Daesh leaders have been captured in Iraq.
"Five Most Wanted leaders of ISIS just captured!," Trump wrote on his official Twitter account, after the Iraqi state television on Wednesday said the country's intelligence agency lured the Daesh terrorists into crossing Syria and arrested them.
Col. Ryan Dillon, the U.S.-led Combined Joint Task Force - Operation Inherent Resolve’s (CJTF-OIR) spokesman also mentioned the arrest of five Daesh leaders in his Twitter post.
"Iraq captures 5 key Daesh leaders during Operation Round up. The arrest is a significant blow to Daesh...," he said, adding: “CJTF-OIR is committed to lasting defeat of Daesh and setting conditions for stabilization."
On Wednesday, the Iraqi state television announced the capturing of the high ranking Daesh terrorists and published their photographs and identity cards.
Iraqi security sources, who wished to remain anonymous due to restrictions on speaking to the media, said the terror group’s leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is hiding somewhere at the Iraq-Syria border.
Last December, officials in Baghdad declared that Daesh's military presence in Iraq had been all but dismantled over operations backed by the U.S.-led International Alliance.
However, from time to time, Iraqi officials announce operations against Daesh-affiliated "sleeper cells" in certain parts of the country.
