Iraq arrests ISIS finance chief with secret op in Turkey

Duvar English 

Iraq has captured the alleged finance chief of ISIS, Sami Jasim al-Jaburi, who was sought by the United States, in an operation abroad, Iraqi authorities told Agence France-Presse on Oct. 11.

Jaburi, also the suspected former deputy to the late ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, was arrested in Turkey, a senior Iraqi military source said without elaborating.

Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhemi had earlier announced on Twitter that Jaburi was arrested by the intelligence services "outside the borders" of Iraq, in a "complex external operation," without naming the location.

It was not immediately clear if Turkish authorities were involved and there was no immediate reaction from Ankara.

The U.S. had offered a reward of up to $5 million for the capture of Jaburi.

The U.S. Rewards for Justice programme said Jaburi had "reportedly served as the equivalent of... finance minister for ISIS, supervising the group's revenue-generating operations from illicit sales of oil, gas, antiquities and minerals."

In September 2015, the U.S. Treasury Department labelled Jaburi as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist.

ISIS took over one-third of Iraq in a lightning offensive in 2014, expanding their self-declared "caliphate," stretching across the Syrian border.

Iraq's government declared victory against the jihadists in late 2017, after a grinding military campaign backed by a U.S.-led military coalition.

Baghdadi was killed in a raid by U.S. special forces in northwestern Syria in October 2019.

ISIS sleeper cells still periodically launch attacks in Iraq, against both the security forces and civilians.

According to an official from the U.S.-led coalition who spoke on condition of anonymity, ISIS is now "stretched" financially and its operations in Iraq are "very localized."