Senior ISIS commander arrested in Iraq

Shaimaa Yahia

The Iraqi intelligence succeeded on May 20 in arresting Abdel Nasr al-Qerdash, one of the most dangerous terrorists and a former potential heir of Abu Bakr al-Baghdad, the late self-styled caliph of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terrorist organization.

Information bank

Al-Qerdash assumed numerous leading positions inside the terrorist organization. He possesses valuable information about ISIS. He was a senior commander in Baghuz in eastern Syria. He was also known to be the military industry emir inside the organization.

Explosives Minister

Al-Qerdash was born in Mosul. He was known to be a close associate of Baghdadi. He was assigned a large number of missions under Baghdadi. He commanded the battles of Baghuz.

ISIS commanders used to call al-Qerdash the “Explosives Minister”. Those around him viewed him as a potential heir to Baghdadi.

Al-Qerdash joined al-Qaeda in 2007 in Nineveh. He assumed a number of administrative positions in the city. He also commanded a series of terrorist attacks against Iraqi civilians.

In 2010, al-Qerdash was appointed as the northern Iraq chief. Al-Qerdash met al-Baghdadi a year later. Having drawn him to ISIS, Baghdadi appointed al-Qerdash as the industry and development chief in his organization. Al-Baghdadi then asked al-Qerdash to travel to Syria to found arms and explosives plants.

Al-Qerdash was then appointed as the chief of eastern Syria, which was made up of the Syrian cities of Hasaka, Raqqah and Deir ez-Zur, after the defection of a number ISIS commanders.

This man played an important role inside ISIS. He supervised the battle for Kobane and the battle for the ancient city of Palmyra. He also oversaw the control of other cities, including Aleppo. He played a major role in the events that took place in Baghuz.

Following his arrest, al-Qerdash revealed important secrets about ISIS, including the presence of rifts between Arab and foreign fighters within the organization over a large number of issues.