RIYADH: Iraq claimed on Wednesday it had arrested a Daesh leader considered a successor to the terror group’s former chief Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi.
The National Intelligence Service told the Iraqi News Agency (INA) it had picked up Abdul Nasser Qardash.
He served as the head of one of the terrorist group’s commissions, INA said, and served under Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi, who led the group that preceded Daesh.
However, some reports suggested Qardash was captured by US or Kurdish forces in Syria last year and just recently transferred to Iraqi custody.
The US has previously identified Ameer Muhammed Saeed Al-Salbi Al-Mawla, as the new leader of Daesh. He is known within the group as Abu Ibrahim Al-Hashimi Al-Qurashi.
Some reports said Qardash was the same person as Al-Mawla, despite the photo used by INA of the captured militant not matching that of Al-Mawla.
Daesh’s former leader Al-Baghdadi blew himself up in October during a raid on his hideout in Syria by US special forces.
