On the morning of Jan. 17, he entered the farmhouse.

Just after sunset, the Falcons team alerted General Falih that something was wrong.

Munaf called their usually stern father, who broke down.

“I had never seen him cry before,” Munaf said. “He kept pleading with me to save his son, but there was nothing I could do.”

Because Tarmiya was an Islamic State stronghold, it took three days for Iraq’s security forces to plan and mount a rescue operation. A combined army and police force raided the farmhouse. One Iraqi officer was killed.

When the building was cleared, there was no sign of Captain Sudani.

For six months, the Falcons gathered evidence. They discovered the bugs in the Kia truck. Informers suggested that the jihadists had taken Captain Sudani to Qaim, an Iraqi town controlled by the Islamic State and beyond the government’s reach.

In August, the Islamic State released a propaganda video showing militants executing blindfolded prisoners. The Falcons were certain that Captain Sudani was one of them.

“I grew up with him, shared a bedroom with him,” Munaf said. “I don’t need to see his face to know my brother.”

‘A Wound on My Heart’