Iraq says top Islamic State leader arrested

Iraq announced on Monday that it has arrested a top Islamic State leader in what it described as “one of the most difficult” cross-border operations.

Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi shared on Twitter that the financial overseer of the Islamic State group, Sami Jasim, had been arrested.

“While our ISF heroes focused on securing the elections, their INIS colleagues were conducting a complex external operation to capture Sami Jasim, who was in charge of Daesh finance, and a deputy of Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi,” al-Kadhimi tweeted, using an alternative name for the terror group.

While our ISF heroes focused on securing the elections, their INIS colleagues were conducting a complex external operation to capture Sami Jasim, who was in charge of Daesh finance, and a deputy of Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi.
Long live Iraq, and our brave heroes.

— Mustafa Al-Kadhimi مصطفى الكاظمي (@MAKadhimi) October 11, 2021

The Associated Press noted that the State Department’s Rewards for Justice program currently has a bounty of up to $5 million on Jasim’s head.

Speaking to the AP, Iraqi intelligence officials said Jasim had been detained in a foreign country and had been transported to Iraq a few days ago. He previously worked with al Qaeda in Iraq. He eventually became a deputy of Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who was killed in 2019 in a U.S.-led raid in Syria.