U.S. forces in Syria captured an ISIS leader who U.S. Central Command said helped members of the terror group escape from a detention facility in Syria.
CENTCOM and Syrian Democratic Forces worked jointly to capture Khaled Ahmed al-Dandal early Sunday morning, three days after five ISIS foreign fighters fled the Raqqah Detention Facility.
Al-Dandal is believed to have been the "ISIS facilitator" aiding the efforts of the two Russians, two Afghans and one Libyan who escaped detention on Aug. 29.
RELATED STORY | Sources: 8 people with possible ties to ISIS arrested in US on immigration violations
CENTCOM said Russian Imam Abdulwahed Akhwan and Libyan Muhammad Noh Muhammad have since been recaptured, but the three other escapees remain at large. This includes the two Afghan fighters, Shuab Muhammad Al-Abdli and Atal Khaled Zar, and the other Russian, Timor Talbrken Abdash, CENTOM said in a release.
There are currently more than 9,000 ISIS detainees in some 20 SDF detention facilities in Syria, with CENTOM calling those in custody "a literal and figurative ISIS Army." The U.S. Department of Defense organization says freeing these fighters is a primary objective for the terror group to "subsequently fuel an ISIS revival."
"If a large number of these ISIS fighters escaped, it would pose an extreme danger to the region and beyond," Gen. Michael Erik Kurilla, commander of U.S. Central Command, said. "We will continue to work with the international community to repatriate these ISIS fighters to their countries of origin for final adjudication."
Though the Islamic State group once controlled a massive slice of both Iraq and Syria, it lost its hold on the territories in 2017 and 2019, respectively. Still, U.S. soldiers have continued to assist the SDF and Iraqi Special Forces in mitigating the threat of an ISIS resurgence over the years.
RELATED STORY | US, Iraqi forces raid targeting Islamic State group militants kills 15 in western desert
However, the U.S. and Iraq are in formal talks to wind down the U.S.-led military coalition in the Middle Eastern country, with Iraqi officials saying they don't need help to control the threat.
But CENTCOM said in July that ISIS is on track to more than double the total number of attacks it claimed this year compared to last as it attempts to "reconstitute" after years of "decreased capability."
Just days before al-Dandal's arrest on Sunday, U.S. and Iraqi forces took part in a raid in Iraq's western region to target Islamic State militants, killing at least 15 of them and leaving seven American soldiers hurt.
And last month, multiple suspects believed to be linked to the Islamic State group were arrested for allegedly planning to attack three Taylor Swift concerts in Vienna. CIA Deputy Director David Cohen said the suspects were planning to kill "tens of thousands" of people at the events.
