The media released reports stating that four senior Daesh commanders were arrested in Turkey on Friday, including the former governor of Al-Khayr State’ (Deir Ezzor) who is said to have close ties with Daesh-self declared caliph, Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi.
Euphrates Post has obtained private information indicating that among the arrested is Kasser Al-Haddawi, a prominent Daesh commander, and that, contrary to the reports which mentioned that he was arrested on Friday, his arrest took place a week ago in Izmir.
Al-Haddawi (nom de guerre : Abu Qaaqaa Al-Qaraani), 33, who comes from Al-Quriyah city in the eastern countryside of Deir Ezzor, is a high-ranking Daesh commander who previously served as the governor of Deir Ezzor. He is accused of perpetrting war crimes in Syria. It is important to note that he was affiliated with FSA-linked ’ Al-Qaqaa Brigade’ before joining Daesh ranks.
Before Daesh takeover of Deir Ezzor province, Al-Hadawi was marketing Daesh propaganda. After that, he publicly pledged his allegiance to Daesh druing a meeting with Abu Omar Al-Shishani, Daesh minister of war, in Al-Kam oil field in early 2014, according to testimonies previously published by ‘Euphrates Center Against Violence and Terrrorism’.
After Daesh gained control over large swaths of lands in Deir Ezzor, Al-Haddawi was elevated to the rank of high-ranking commander due to his strong relationship with Saddam Al-Jamal, a Daesh local commander. Furtheremore, he partook in the arrest of several FSA fighters who remained in the province during Daesh rule by taking advantage of his former position as an FSA fighter. On the other hand, there are various testimonies proving that he was also complicit in the appaling massacre of Al Shaitate in the summer of 2015.
Among the arrested is another Daesh high-ranking commander identified as Mohamed Matar (also known as Abu Layla) from Al-Quriyah city. He was one of the most notorious Daesh Amniah who operated in Deir Ezzor before the setbacks and shrinking of the organization’s terrority in the province. He was in direct contact with Al Haddawi and managed to flee to Turkey around two months ago.
According to our sources, Matar was arrested with the two other senior commanders in Gaziantep around a week ago. The latter are identified as Mundir Zuheir (also known as Abu Far) from Deir Ezzor city and Omar Ghassan (also known as Abu Khitab) from Al-Qariyah. They remained in constant contact and coordination with Al-Haddawi upon their arrival in the Turkish territory.
Mundir Zuheir is a senior Amni who served as the emir of Daesh ‘intelligence office’ in ‘Al-Khayr State’. He is also said to have been involved in the arrest of a large number of FSA fighters in the province.
Anadul Agency cited sources saying that, ‘The counter-terrorism unit of the Izmir police and the national intelligence service conducted a joint operation in which the terror group’s “Emir” of Syria’s Deir ez-Zor region and three other ringleaders were arrested while attemting to cross into Europe’.
The source added that ‘The so-called Emir, who was allegedly involved in the massacre of 700 people in Syria in December 2017 and is said to have close relations with Daesh terror group chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, was trying to cross into Europe’
The agency said that they were transported to the Directorate of Security in Izmir for investigation.