Qirdash, once tipped to replace Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi as head of ISIS, was arrested on Wednesday, May 20.

The statement from the Iraqi National Intelligence Service read “Today, the terrorist named Abdulnasser al-Qirdash, the candidate to succeed the criminal al-Baghdadi, was arrested. The arrest came after accurate intelligence. He served as the head of the commission authorised by the terrorist organisation Daesh, and he worked with the organisation as a leader from the time of the terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi until the battles of al-Baghouz that he led himself.”

Details on how he was captured or where the operation took place have not been revealed yet.