The authorities have not confirmed reports circulating in recent days that it is Abu Hassan al-Hachimi al-Qurachi, leader of the Islamist group.
A “frameof the jihadist group Islamic State (IS) was arrested last week in Istanbul, a senior Turkish official told AFP on Friday, May 27 on condition of anonymity.
Read alsoFrench state and Islam: three decades of useless efforts?
“No specific informationdoes not make it possible to affirm that he is the number one of the terrorist group, but it is indeed a “frameof the organization, said this source. Press reports have been circulating since Thursday claiming that the leader of the EI group, Abu Hassan al-Hachimi al-Qurachi, was arrested in Istanbul, without the information having been confirmed by the Turkish authorities.
Abu Hassan al-Hachimi al-Qurachi was appointed in March, just over a month after his predecessor Abu Ibrahim al-Hachimi al-Qurachi died on February 3. His nomination had been made public on March 10 by an audio recording from IS. Iraqi authorities declared victory against IS in late 2017, but the jihadist group continues to carry out deadly attacks in Iraq and neighboring Syria, where it also raged for years.
SEE ALSO – Terrorism: where is the threat in France?