Turkish police say top ISIL figure captured in operation

Reports say suspect was involved in helping hide former ISIL leader al-Baghdadi in Syria’s Idlib province.

A close aide of killed ISIL (ISIS) leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has been caught in Istanbul. The Afghan national, only identified by the codename ASIM, was detained in the Atasehir district on the city’s Asian side on Wednesday, an Istanbul police statement said on Sunday. News reports of the joint operation carried out by Istanbul police and Turkey’s intelligence agency said the suspect had been involved in helping hide al-Baghdadi in Syria’s Idlib province after the fall of the group in 2019.