Iraqi security authorities have announced the arrest and capture of a man said to have been the deputy chief to ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi during an operation on Tuesday in the province of Kirkuk.

The Iraqi “Security Media Cell” released pictures of the captured detainee via its Twitter page and said the extremist leader was caught with a false identification card.

“A unit from the Hawija police in the province of Kirkuk has arrested the terrorist known as ‘Abu Khaldoun’ inside one of the apartments in the March 1 area. He was carrying a false identity card under the name of Shaalan Obeid. This criminal worked as a deputy under al-Baghdadi and was previously the so-called military prince of the province of Salah al-Din,” the statement read.

Baghdadi, who led ISIS since 2014 and was the world’s most wanted man, was killed in a US special forces raid in Syria’s northwestern province of Idlib in October. A statement from ISIS days later confirmed named Baghdadi’s replacement as Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Quraishi.

Al Arabiya English