Police in the southeastern province of Şanlıurfa have captured a suspected Daesh courier, Abud Mahho. After a search, they discovered suicide bombing equipment which it is believed Mahho has hidden and was supposed to deliver to the Reina attacker Abdülgadir Masharipov. However, their plan was changed after he failed to deliver the package.

It has been confirmed that Syrian citizen Mahho entered Turkey from Tell Abyad, which is controlled by the Democratic Union Party (PYD). He was captured and taken into custody at a house which Daesh provided its militants. Following his interrogation, Mahho revealed the location of the suicide bombing equipment. The police discovered remote controls, detonation fuses and three kilograms of RDX explosives buried underground. It is reported that the explosives were also brought into Turkey from Tell Abyad.

In his statement, the suspect said the terror group is organized into cells and that he was told to gather all the equipment by telephone. He stated that the people on the phone usually tasked him to gather the equipment and give it to a contact that visits him. "They call me on the phone, I dig out the equipment from the ground and give it to the man who comes," Mahho said.

During his interview, Masharipov told police that he was always in touch with "Raqqa," the self-declared capital of Daesh in Syria, and that a Daesh "emir" code named Hoca Aka approved the original plot to carry out an attack in Taksim Square. He changed his plans, however, on seeing a heavy police presence at the busy gathering point.

Turkish media reported that Masharipov's handlers in Raqqa sent him images showing the interior of the nightclub to help him plan the attack. The terrorist, who was seen wielding an AK-47 rifle and stun grenades as he mowed down revelers inside Reina, also told police he thought the "flashbangs" were actually hand grenades, and fled the scene when he noticed they did not kill anyone.