Syria says ISIS leader captured in joint operation in Damascus countryside

A key leader of the ISIS (Daesh) terrorist group was captured late Wednesday in a joint operation by Syrian security forces and the US-led international coalition against terrorism in the countryside of the Syrian capital Damascus.

Taha al-Zoubi, also known as Abu Omar Tibiya, 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.