US and Syrian forces have captured an ISIS leader who helped other terrorists when they escaped a detention facility in Syria, US Central Command said Tuesday.
ISIS boss Khaled Ahmed al-Dandal was taken into custody Sunday after CENTCOM and Syrian Defense Forces found he helped the ISIS fighters when they escaped the Raqqah Detention Facility in Syria, according Central Command’s statement.
“A primary objective of ISIS remains to free their fighters currently held in detention and subsequently fuel an ISIS revival,” the combatant command said. “CENTCOM forces, in coordination with SDF, will continue to mitigate threats of future escapes and to ensure the enduring defeat of ISIS.”
Al-Dandal’s arrest comes after five “ISIS foreign terror fighter” detainees — Russians Timor Talbrken Abdash and Imam Abdulwahed Akhwan, Libyan Muhammad Noh Muhammad, and Afghans Shuab Muhammad Al-Abdli and Atal Khaled Zar — fled the detention center Thursday.
Al-Dandal is accused of assisting the five, including two — Akhwan and Muhammad — who have since been recaptured by Syrian forces.
CENTCOM commander Gen. Michael Erik Kurilla, whose area of operations covers the Middle East, said al-Dandal’s arrest was key to ensuring ISIS fighters cannot fuel the terror group’s attempted regrouping in Syria.
“Over 9,000 ISIS detainees remain in over 20 SDF detention facilities in Syria, a literal and figurative ‘ISIS army’ in detention,” Kurilla said. “If a large number of these ISIS fighters escaped, it would pose an extreme danger to the region and beyond.
“We will continue to work with the international community to repatriate these ISIS fighters to their countries of origin for final adjudication,” he added.
CENTCOM two months ago said ISIS was again on the rise after the number of its attacks in Syria and Iraq was on track to double those of 2023.
As of July, the terrorist organization had claimed 153 attacks in the region in 2024 alone.
