OREANDA-NEWS. The whereabouts of the leader of the Islamic State terrorist group (ISIS, banned in the Russian Federation) Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, allegedly destroyed as a result of a special operation by US forces in Idlib province, was established thanks to the assistance of one of his main assistants. This was reported on Sunday by the American News Agency, citing sources in Iraqi intelligence agencies.

Iraqi sources call Ismael al-Etawi one of the five main aides of al-Baghdadi. Al-Etawi joined the Al-Qaida terrorist network (banned in the Russian Federation) in 2006, was arrested by the US military in 2008, after which he spent four years in prison. After his release, he joined the ISIS (banned in the Russian Federation).

Al-Baghdadi was finally able to establish the whereabouts this year during a joint intelligence operation of the United States, Turkey and Iraq. The scouts captured several more terrorists and received information from them about the meeting places with al-Baghdadi in Syria, and then found that the leader was hiding with his family in the Idlib area.