Two relatives including the uncle of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) militant group, were detained on Sunday after a security operation near the city of Samarra, state-owned Iraqi television cited a security source as saying.

“A group from the Regiment Special Assignments was able to arrest Baghdadi’s uncle, named Saleh Ibrahim Abdulmomen and niece’s husband Dhiya Nouri Sadoun,” the security source from the southern Dhi Qar governorate’s police said.

“The detainees are among the top level of ISIS commanders in Samarra,” the source added.

Meanwhile, Sheikh Oda al-Jughaifi from the western province of Anbar said on Sunday that a new military operation was launched to capture the Anbar province’s al-Baghdadi district from ISIS militants.

On Sunday, the U.S. military said Washington and its coalition partners conducted three air strikes against ISIS militants in Syria and eight in Iraq since Saturday.

The Combined Joint Task Force leading the air operations said the three strikes near Kobani in Syria “struck an ISIL large tactical unit and destroyed an ISIL building and two ISIL vehicles.” ISIL is an acronym for ISIS.

In Iraq, air strikes near Tal Afar, Mosul, Bayji, Hit and Sinjar struck tactical units, vehicles, a bulldozer, buildings and a checkpoint, the task force said.

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