US troops capture ISIS leader in Syria linked to helping fighters escape from prison

LONDON — American forces in Syria have captured an ISIS leader who U.S. Central Command said facilitated a recent prison break by detained foreign fighters.

Khaled Ahmed al-Dandal was captured in a joint U.S.-Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) operation in the early hours of Sunday, CENTCOM said in a statement.

CENTCOM linked al-Dandal to the escape of five ISIS foreign fighters — two Russians, two Afghans and one Libyan — from a detention facility in the northern Syrian city of Raqqa on Aug. 29.

The SDF has already recaptured two of the escapees — Imam Abdulwahed Akhwan from Russia and Muhammad Noh Muhammad from Libya — CENTCOM said. “The search continues for the three who remain at large,” it added, naming Russian Timor Talbrken Abdash, and Shuab Muhammad Al-Abdli and Atal Khaled Zar, both from Afghanistan.

“A primary objective of ISIS remains to free their fighters currently held in detention and subsequently fuel an ISIS revival,” CENTCOM said. “CENTCOM forces, in coordination with SDF, will continue to mitigate threats of future escapes and to ensure the enduring defeat of ISIS.”

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The seal for the U.S. Central Command is di…Show more
Susan Walsh/AP, FILE
There are more than 9,000 ISIS detainees spread across 20 SDF-run detention facilities in Syria. CENTCOM Commander Gen. Michael Erik Kurilla said the prisoners represent “a literal and figurative ‘ISIS Army’ in detention.”

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

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.