Turkey says it captured sister of dead IS leader
Istanbul: Turkish forces in northern Syria have detained a sister of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of the Islamic State group who was killed in a US raid, a senior Turkish official said Tuesday.
"Turkey has captured Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi's sister" in a raid near the town of Azaz, the official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP.
He named the woman as Rasmiya Awad, and said she was born in 1954. The woman was accompanied by her husband, her daughter-in-law and five children. "The three adults are being interrogated at this time", the official said. He added that the arrest could be "an intelligence gold mine.
"What she knows about ISIS can significantly expand our understanding of the group", help us catch more members and "help Turkey to better protect itself and the rest of Europe from terrorists", he said, using another acronym for IS.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights confirmed the arrests.
"Turkish forces arrested the sister of Baghdadi last night in a camp in the suburbs of the city of Azaz", said the head of the organisation, Rami Abdel Rahman.
"They arrested her, her husband, her daughter-in law, and her five grandchildren." He said they also detained four other Iraqis, but it was not immediately clear if they were linked to IS or not.
The town of Azaz is located in a region of northwestern Syria that has been under Turkish control since an offensive that it staged in 2016.
US President Donald Trump announced on October 27 the death of Baghdadi in a US special forces raid in Syria's northwestern province of Idlib, carried out in coordination with Kurdish militants.
Baghdadi had led IS since 2014 and was the world's most wanted man.
The next day Turkey said that its intelligence services and military had had "intense" contact with their US counterparts on the night of the operation.
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AIITA welcomes Karnataka’s ban on obscene songs in school events
Bhatkal: The Karnataka unit of the All India Ideal Teachers Association (AIITA) has welcomed the Karnataka government’s decision to strictly ban school children from dancing to obscene songs during educational and cultural programmes in government, aided, and private schools across the state.
AIITA Karnataka State President M. R. Manvi congratulated the government for taking what he termed an important step to preserve the sanctity of education.
“Such decisions to safeguard the dignity of school children and uphold the values of education are the need of the hour. This rule should not be limited to government schools alone but must be strictly implemented in all private educational institutions as well,” he said.
He further urged the government to address other concerns within school programmes.
“The government should not only prohibit obscene dances in the name of school anniversaries, but also ensure that plays and dialogues that incite religious hatred are avoided. Schools should be centres of harmony, not platforms for spreading hatred,” he added.
According to a recent circular issued by the Department of School Education and Literacy, obscene dances are adversely affecting the mental health and moral values of students.
In this regard, schools have been advised to use songs that promote nationalism, positive thinking, the greatness of Kannada culture, and value-based traditions instead of inappropriate content during programmes.
The circular also emphasises that students should be dressed in decent attire.
AIITA also backed the department’s warning that disciplinary action would be taken against head teachers if such guidelines are violated. The association has further demanded that district Deputy Directors of Public Instruction strictly monitor the implementation of these rules.
