Kurdish general says Baghdadi's stolen underwear was a piece of key information that led to raid

The rubble of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi's home.
(Image credit: Omar Haj Kadour/AFP/Getty Images)

One of Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi's security advisers stole a pair of his underwear and a blood sample in order to prove to Kurdish intelligence that he was in fact part of his inner circle, NBC News reports.

Gen. Mazloum Abdi of the Syrian Democratic Forces told NBC News that U.S. intelligence tested the underwear and blood, and when it was determined they were DNA matches to Baghdadi, the hunt was on. The unidentified adviser was able to share with the Kurds details about Baghdadi's compound in Syria, giving them a floor plan and revealing how many guards were on the property.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.