ISIS Leader Taha al-Zoubi aka Abu Omar Tibiya Captured in Damascus

SYRIA – The Syrian authorities on Wednesday Dec. 24, said that the ISIS leader Taha al-Zoubi, also known as Abu Omar Tibiya, was captured in Damascus during a joint operation between Syrian security forces and the US-led international coalition against terrorism.

Taha served as the group’s ‘wali,’ or governor, of Damascus. He was captured along with some of his aides.

“As a result of the operation carried out by coalition forces and internal security units, ISIS’s so-called Damascus governor was captured,” said a report by Syria’s state television channel Al-Ikhbariyah, citing a source from the Interior Ministry.

Speaking to Syria’s official news agency SANA, Brigadier General Ahmad al-Dalati, head of Internal Security in the Damascus Countryside, said that after a long period of surveillance, a joint operation was conducted by the General Intelligence Directorate under the Interior Ministry and coalition forces against an ISIS cell in Muaddamiyah district.

Al-Dalati said that as a result of the operation, al-Zoubi and some of his aides were captured while wearing explosive vests.

The US Central Command (CENTCOM) has not publicly confirmed the operation.