Syria says key ISIL leader Taha al-Zoubi captured near Damascus

Syria has said that a senior leader of ISIL (ISIS) group had been captured in a joint operation by Syrian security forces and the US-led international coalition in the countryside of the capital, Damascus.

The suspect, Taha al-Zoubi, also known as Abu Omar Tibiya, served as ISIL’s so-called "wali," or governor, for Damascus, according to Syrian officials.

He was arrested late on Wednesday along with several of his aides.

"As a result of the operation carried out by coalition forces and internal security units, ISIS’s so-called Damascus governor was captured," Syria’s state television channel Al-Ikhbariyah reported, citing a source from the Interior Ministry.

Speaking to Syria’s official news agency SANA, Brigadier General Ahmad al-Dalati, head of Internal Security in the Damascus countryside, said the arrest followed a prolonged period of surveillance.

He said the joint operation was carried out by the General Intelligence Directorate under the Interior Ministry, in coordination with coalition forces, against an ISIL cell operating in the Muaddamiyah district.

Al-Dalati said al-Zoubi and several of his aides were captured while wearing explosive vests.

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Source: TRT