Turkey announces it has captured al-Baghdadi's wife, brother-in-law, and sister

One of the wives of slain ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has been captured, as has his sister and brother-in-law, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says.

Erdogan announced Wednesday the capture of Baghdadi's wife, The Associated Press reports, although he didn't provide more information or name the woman. AP notes Baghdadi was known to have four wives.

Erdogan also confirmed that Turkey has captured Baghdadi's sister and brother-in-law, as had previously been reported, per NBC News. In making this announcement, Erdogan got in a swipe at the United States for making a "big fuss" about Baghdadi's death.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

"The United States said Baghdadi killed himself in a tunnel," Erdogan said, Fox News reports. "They started a communication campaign about this. But I am announcing it here for the first time: We captured his wife and didn't make a fuss like them. Similarly, we also captured his sister and brother-in-law in Syria."

President Trump announced Baghdadi's death late last month, saying the former ISIS leader had killed himself and three of his children after detonating an explosive vest during a military operation. The U.S. says two of Baghdadi's wives were also killed in the operation, CNN reports.

Turkey is questioning Rasmiya Awad, Baghdadi's sister, CNN reports, and "Ankara hopes her capture will lead to a wealth of intelligence about the militant group." A Turkish intelligence official told CNN, "This kind of thing is an intelligence gold mine."