Syria says key ISIL leader Taha al-Zoubi captured near Damascus

According to the country’s SANA news agency, Taha al-Zoubi, a key figure in the ISIL (ISIS) organization, has been arrested in the countryside of Syria’s Ministry of Interior, according to the country’s SANA news agency.

According to the report, “a suicide belt and a military weapon were seized in his possession” and that a “tightly executed security operation” was carried out that resulted in al-Zoubi’s arrest.

According to Brigadier General Ahmad al-Dalati, head of internal security in the Damascus countryside, the raid was carried out “in cooperation” with an anti-ISIL alliance that includes the US-led coalition fighting the group, according to SANA.

The operation has not been made public by US Central Command (CENTCOM).

Al-Dalati claimed that several alleged aides were also detained, and that al-Zoubi, also known as Abu Omar Tibiya, was Damascus’ “wali” or governor.

The arrest demonstrated the “readyness of the security apparatus” and “crippled a blow” to ISIL networks in the capital region, according to the official.

Anyone who dares to work for ISIS or to engage in terrorism will receive a clear message: “The hand of justice will reach them wherever they are,” al-Dalati said.

ISIL has primarily focused its activities against Kurdish forces in the north, which it views as illegitimate.

Raqqa, the capital of the self-declared “caliphate” of ISIL, spanned an area half the size of the United Kingdom at its height.

The organization was infamous for its brutality, which included the beheading of foreign captives and the massacre of Syrians and Iraqis.