ISIS
ISISReuters

Iraqi intelligence on Wednesday arrested Abdul Nasser Qardash, a possible heir to Islamic State (ISIS) leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, Al-Arabiya and Sky News Arabia reported.

A security source quoted in the reports said that Qardash is a senior leader within the group, which he joined at the time of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the founder of Al-Qaeda in Iraq, which later turn into ISIS.

According to the US Treasury, Qardash, whose real name is believed to be Muhammad Saeed Abdurrahman Muhammad al-Mawla, is a major Islamic State ideologue.

The previous ISIS leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, was eliminated in a US operation in Syria last October.

Following Baghdadi’s elimination, US President Donald Trump made clear that the United States knows exactly who the new leader of ISIS is. He later said that the new leader of ISIS is being pursued by the US just as Baghdadi.