US captures ISIS leader who helped terror group escapees, military says

By: CNN

Posted: Sep 2, 2024 5:43 PM CDT

Daniel Slim/AFP/Getty Images via CNN Newsource

By Oren Liebermann

(CNN) — The US captured an ISIS leader who helped escapees of the terror group after they fled a detention facility in Syria, according to US Central Command.

Working with the Syrian Democratic Forces, the US captured Khaled Ahmed al-Dandal early Sunday morning. Al-Dandal helped ISIS fighters who had escaped from detention facilities in Syria, including recently escaped fighters, CENTCOM said.

Last week, five ISIS detainees escaped from the Raqqa detention facility in Syria. The Syrian Democratic Forces recaptured two of the escapees, but the other three remain at large, CENTCOM said.

More than 9,000 ISIS detainees are held in over 20 detention facilities in Syria. The US is working to repatriate as many of the detainees as possible, but the process is incredibly slow. The large number of ISIS detainees held in the facility has made them a target for ISIS attacks as the group tries to free the prisoners.

“If a large number of these ISIS fighters escaped, it would pose an extreme danger to the region and beyond,” said Gen. Erik Kurilla, the commander of US Central Command. “We will continue to work with the international community to repatriate these ISIS fighters to their countries of origin for final adjudication.”

The capture of al-Dandal comes just days after a separate raid against ISIS in Iraq in which seven US service members were wounded. Conducted with the Iraqi Security Forces, the operation killed 15 ISIS militants, US officials said, as the militaries targeted the hideouts of several ISIS leaders.

All of the injured service members are stable, according to three defense officials, and one of the injured was evacuated out of the region for additional care.