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Saudi, Yemeni special forces capture leader of Daesh in Yemen

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The leader, Abu Osama Al-Muhajir, as well as other members of the organization including its chief financial officer, were captured on June 3 in a raid on a house carried out by Saudi and Yemeni forces. (SPA)
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The leader, Abu Osama Al-Muhajir, as well as other members of the organization including its chief financial officer, were captured on June 3 in a raid on a house carried out by Saudi and Yemeni forces. (SPA)
3 / 3
The leader, Abu Osama Al-Muhajir, as well as other members of the organization including its chief financial officer, were captured on June 3 in a raid on a house carried out by Saudi and Yemeni forces. (SPA)
Updated 26 June 2019
Arab News
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Saudi, Yemeni special forces capture leader of Daesh in Yemen

  • Weapons, ammunition and telecommunication devices were also seized during the 10-minute operation
  • There were no injuries to civilians, including 3 women and 3 children who were inside the house
Updated 26 June 2019
Arab News

RIYADH: Saudi and Yemeni special forces captured the leader of Daesh in Yemen, the Arab coalition said Tuesday.
Abu Osama Al-Muhajir was seized during an operation on June 3 along with a Daesh financial officer and a number of other members of the organization, the Saudi Press Agency reported.
The arrests were made at a house that had been under surveillance, coalition spokesman Col. Turki Al-Maliki said. Three women and three children were in the house at the time.
The operation took 10 minutes and the women and children were unharmed.

The statement did not specify where in Yemen the raid took place.
“The operation was successful in capturing the terrorists and ensuring the safety of the women and children inside the house,” Col. Al Malki said.
The forces recovered a number of weapons, ammunition, laptops and computers, money in different currencies, and communications equipment.

Extremist groups like Al-Qaeda and Daesh have attempted to take advantage of the conflict in Yemen and assert their authority in some areas of the country — particularly in the south.
The Arab coalition, which includes Saudi Arabia and the UAE, is fighting in support of the official government against the Iran-backed Houthi militia that seized the capital Sanaa in 2014. But the coalition has also been working with Yemeni forces to combat extremist groups in the south.
“This operation is an extension of the close cooperation between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Yemeni government to combat terrorism and dismantle the terrorist organizations,” Al-Maliki said. “It is also a painful blow to the terrorist Daesh organization, especially in Yemen, and it follows the Kingdom’s efforts to combat terrorism in all its forms.”

SaudiArabia's Deputy Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman said the Kingdom's military operations in Yemen are aimed at preventing terrorist groups like Al-Qaeda, Daesh and the Houthis from using the country to destabilize the region.

"The capture of ISIS's leader in Yemen is just the latest example of our commitment to eradicating the scourge of terrorism," Prince Khalid said on Twitter. "Saudi Arabia continues to play a leading role in the international community’s effort to combat terrorism and counter extremism."

Saudi Arabia's Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Adel Al-Jubeir said the operation was "another testament of the Kingdom’s unwavering commitment to confront all forces of terrorism and extremism."

 

 

 

Topics: Arab Coalition Daesh Yemen

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First responders enter devastated Aleppo neighborhood after days of deadly fighting

Updated 12 January 2026
AP
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First responders enter devastated Aleppo neighborhood after days of deadly fighting

  • The US-backed SDF, which have played a key role in combating the Daesh group in large swaths of eastern Syria, are the largest force yet to be absorbed into Syria’s national army
Updated 12 January 2026
AP

ALEPPO, Syria: First responders on Sunday entered a contested neighborhood in Syria’ s northern city of Aleppo after days of deadly clashes between government forces and Kurdish-led forces. Syrian state media said the military was deployed in large numbers.
The clashes broke out Tuesday in the predominantly Kurdish neighborhoods of Sheikh Maqsoud, Achrafieh and Bani Zaid after the government and the Syrian Democratic Forces, the main Kurdish-led force in the country, failed to make progress on how to merge the SDF into the national army. Security forces captured Achrafieh and Bani Zaid.
The fighting between the two sides was the most intense since the fall of then-President Bashar Assad to insurgents in December 2024. At least 23 people were killed in five days of clashes and more than 140,000 were displaced amid shelling and drone strikes.
The US-backed SDF, which have played a key role in combating the Daesh group in large swaths of eastern Syria, are the largest force yet to be absorbed into Syria’s national army. Some of the factions that make up the army, however, were previously Turkish-backed insurgent groups that have a long history of clashing with Kurdish forces.
The Kurdish fighters have now evacuated from the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood to northeastern Syria, which is under the control of the SDF. However, they said in a statement they will continue to fight now that the wounded and civilians have been evacuated, in what they called a “partial ceasefire.”
The neighborhood appeared calm Sunday. The United Nations said it was trying to dispatch more convoys to the neighborhoods with food, fuel, blankets and other urgent supplies.
Government security forces brought journalists to tour the devastated area, showing them the damaged Khalid Al-Fajer Hospital and a military position belonging to the SDF’s security forces that government forces had targeted.
The SDF statement accused the government of targeting the hospital “dozens of times” before patients were evacuated. Damascus accused the Kurdish-led group of using the hospital and other civilian facilities as military positions.
On one street, Syrian Red Crescent first responders spoke to a resident surrounded by charred cars and badly damaged residential buildings.
Some residents told The Associated Press that SDF forces did not allow their cars through checkpoints to leave.
“We lived a night of horror. I still cannot believe that I am right here standing on my own two feet,” said Ahmad Shaikho. “So far the situation has been calm. There hasn’t been any gunfire.”
Syrian Civil Defense first responders have been disarming improvised mines that they say were left by the Kurdish forces as booby traps.
Residents who fled are not being allowed back into the neighborhood until all the mines are cleared. Some were reminded of the displacement during Syria’s long civil war.
“I want to go back to my home, I beg you,” said Hoda Alnasiri.
 

 

Topics: Fall of Assad Syria Syria Kurds

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