Al-Baghdadi was killed in a US raid in northwestern Syria in 2019 (Reuters)

The Iraqi judicial authorities announced on Thursday the interrogation of the "family" of the former leader of the Islamic State, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, explaining that they had been brought back from outside Iraq.

The Iraqi Judicial Council said in a statement, “Under the direct supervision of the competent judge in the First Karkh Investigation Court, Al-Baghdadi’s family was arrested, and their statements were recorded, while investigations are still continuing with them to uncover the most important secrets of ISIS.”

The statement does not specify the number of Al-Baghdadi family members who were arrested, nor their identity, nor from which country they were returned.

However, a judicial source said, “The intelligence service, in cooperation with the Turkish authorities, recovered “Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s wife and her children,” adding that “she was arrested in Turkey.”

The statement stated that "the judicial authorities were able to recover Al-Baghdadi's family", "as part of their plan to recover those accused of terrorism cases who fled outside Iraq."

Asmaa Muhammad, the widow of al-Baghdadi, who was arrested by Türkiye (French)

In November 2019, Turkey announced the arrest of Al-Baghdadi’s widow, along with 10 other people, including his daughter.

A Turkish official said at the time that she was Al-Baghdadi’s “first wife,” and she was arrested in June 2018, in the Turkish province of Hatay, bordering Syria.

According to the official, Al-Baghdadi's wife "provided numerous information about Al-Baghdadi and the internal work of ISIS."

At that time, the Turkish media said that this wife’s name was Asma Fawzi Muhammad al-Kubaisi, and his daughter’s name was Laila.

In October 2019, the United States announced the killing of Al-Baghdadi in a night strike, launched in northwestern Syria, kilometers from the border with Turkey.

After controlling large areas in Syria and Iraq in 2014, the extremist organization suffered successive defeats in both countries, until it was stripped of all areas of its control in 2019.

Iraq declared its victory over the organization in late 2017, but it still maintains some cells in remote and remote areas in the north of the country, launching attacks from time to time against the army and security forces.

A United Nations report published last July stated that "counter-terrorism operations carried out by Iraqi forces continued to limit the activities of ISIS, which nevertheless maintained a low level of insurgency."

He added, "The organization's operations were limited to rural areas, while attacks in urban centers were less frequent."

According to the report, the main structure of ISIS "still commands 5,000 to 7,000 individuals throughout Iraq and Syria, most of whom are fighters."

Source: French