Syrian security authorities announced that it captured a senior Daesh (ISIS) commander. News agency SANA has reported that the Syrian Intelligence Service has verified that a leader of Daesh, known as “Abu al-Harith al-Iraqi,” was apprehended in Syria.

“We managed to capture Abu al-Harith al-Iraqi, an ISIS leader, who filled significant positions in the so-called “State of Iraq,” as he was responsible for overseeing the file of new arrivals and he served as the deputy responsible for preparing terrorist attacks,” a source at the Syrian Intelligence Service told SANA.

The source also said,

“Al-Iraqi had been behind planning several operations, the most prominent of which was the assassination of the leader, Maysar al-Jubouri – along with several other assassinations.”

The report elaborated,

“The recently captured cell, which planned to target the shrine of Sayyidah Zainab in the vicinity of the capital Damascus, was operating under the direction of al-Iraqi.”

Sources indicate that this operation was part of a series of qualitative operations to hunt down ISIS cells in the region, where a number of associates of cells that attempted to carry out criminal operations in several areas were arrested.

The captured individual involvement includes the killing of senior Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) leader Maysar Al-Jabouri, as well as a thwarted plot to attack the Sayyida Zainab shrine in Damascus. Syrian intelligence sources indicated that the cell responsible for the shrine plot was working under Al-Iraqi’s leadership.

His detention is considered a considerable setback for Daesh, given his responsibility for staging high-profile operations, including the killing of several key figures. The new Syrian government, which has connections to former Al-Qaeda affiliate HTS, has represented Al-Iraqi as a key player in the group’s efforts to destabilise the area through targeted killings and terrorist aggression.

Moreover, US forces killed a senior member at the weekend from the Al-Qaeda-affiliated Hurras Al-Din organisation in the north-west Syrian province of Idlib, HTS’s former stronghold. US Central Command authorised the strike, which was intended for a senior finance and logistics official within the outfit.

Despite Hurras Al-Din’s statement last month of its abolition under Al-Qaeda’s direction, US forces have persisted in pursuing its leaders.

“We will continue to relentlessly pursue terrorists in order to defend our homeland and US, allied and partner personnel in the region,”

stated CENTCOM Commander General Michael Erik Kurilla.