Senior ISIS commander arrested in Iraq

The Iraqi intelligence succeeded on May 20 in arresting Abdel Nasr al-Qerdash, one of the most dangerous terrorists and a former potential heir of Abu Bakr al-Baghdad, the late self-styled caliph of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terrorist organization.
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Al-Qerdash assumed
numerous leading positions inside the terrorist organization. He possesses
valuable information about ISIS. He was a senior commander in Baghuz in eastern
Syria. He was also known to be the military industry emir inside the
organization.
Explosives Minister
Al-Qerdash was born
in Mosul. He was known to be a close associate of Baghdadi. He was assigned a
large number of missions under Baghdadi. He commanded the battles of Baghuz.
ISIS commanders used
to call al-Qerdash the "Explosives Minister". Those around him viewed
him as a potential heir to Baghdadi.
Al-Qerdash joined
al-Qaeda in 2007 in Nineveh. He assumed a number of administrative positions in
the city. He also commanded a series of terrorist attacks against Iraqi
civilians.
In 2010, al-Qerdash
was appointed as the northern Iraq chief. Al-Qerdash met al-Baghdadi a year
later. Having drawn him to ISIS, Baghdadi appointed al-Qerdash as the industry
and development chief in his organization. Al-Baghdadi then asked al-Qerdash to
travel to Syria to found arms and explosives plants.
Al-Qerdash was then
appointed as the chief of eastern Syria, which was made up of the Syrian cities
of Hasaka, Raqqah and Deir
ez-Zur, after the defection of a number ISIS commanders.
This
man played an important role inside ISIS. He supervised the battle for Kobane
and the battle for the ancient city of Palmyra. He also oversaw the control of
other cities, including Aleppo. He played a major role in the events that took
place in Baghuz.
Following his arrest, al-Qerdash
revealed important secrets about ISIS, including the presence of rifts between
Arab and foreign fighters within the organization over a large number of
issues.