Daesh terrorists in Turkey have been disguising themselves as nonreligious, alcohol-consuming individuals to evade police scrutiny, a detained top terrorist in northwestern Sakarya province has revealed.
Turkish security forces nabbed Jordanian national A.Z.A.A.D., a suspected high-ranking Daesh member, in Sakarya on Wednesday. He was the so-called “deputy minister of education,” responsible for all of the terrorist group’s educational institutions in regional Daesh strongholds in Iraq and Syria from 2014-2017.
The terrorist used a fake identity, shaved his beard off, tied his hair up in a ponytail and wore stylish outfits to conceal his true identity, the investigators said, according to the Hürriyet daily.
Like the Jordanian national, other Daesh terrorists in Turkey also opted for a secular-image and embraced an anti-social lifestyle to minimize contact with the outside world.
They also put beer bottles in front of their homes to trick passersby into thinking they consume alcohol, which is strictly prohibited in Islam, and even rubbed some on their faces when they went outside.
Authorities also indicated that the terrorist group used social media outlets for their propaganda. For instance, A.Z.A.A.D. allegedly published images of people that were brutally killed by Daesh in support of the group’s propaganda.
Turkey deals heavy blow to Daesh in 1st month of 2021
Turkish security forces detained 361 suspected Daesh terrorists in nationwide counterterrorism operations in January, Anadolu Agency (AA) reported Thursday.
Fifty of these suspects have been arrested by the court, and some of them are still undergoing legal procedures.
Daesh terrorist Azzo Halaf Solaiman al-Aggal, who supplied explosives used in the deadly Sultanahmet and Suruç terrorist attacks, was detained in Şanlıurfa, while terrorist A.R.S., who was sought with a Red Notice, was nabbed as he attempted to illegally enter Turkey across the Kilis border with Syria.
Security forces noted that al-Aggal cooperated with Maher al-Aggal, codenamed “Abu Bera,” who was the mastermind of Daesh’s major terrorist attacks in Turkey.
On Jan. 12, 2016, Daesh terrorist Nabil Fadli blew himself up in Istanbul’s Sultanahmet district, killing 12 German citizens and injuring 16 others.
The two suicide bombers were identified as Yunus Emre Alagöz, a Turkish national, and an unidentified Syrian. Alagöz was the brother of Abdurrahman Alagöz, the Daesh suicide bomber who blew himself up on July 20, 2015, in the southeastern Turkish district of Suruç.
Police detained 25 suspects, including foreign nationals, in counterterrorism operations in Istanbul, while 126 suspects, who provided financial assistance to Daesh, were detained in Balıkesir-based operations carried out in 58 provinces.
Security forces also exposed cooperation between the two terrorist groups when they nabbed three suspects, including two PKK and a Daesh terrorist attempting to cross into Greece on the same rubber boat. Authorities noted that one of PKK’s ringleaders, Murat Karayılan, had instructed his militants to cooperate with Daesh when necessary.
Turkish security forces have been involved in a long-running campaign to thwart Daesh attacks. More than 300 people have lost their lives in Daesh-claimed attacks in Turkey, where the terrorist group has targeted civilians in suicide bombings and rocket-and-gun attacks.
The country’s efforts against Daesh made it a primary target of the terrorist group, which has carried out numerous gun and bomb attacks targeting security forces and civilians. These include the country’s deadliest terrorist attack, which killed 102 people and wounded 400 others in a twin suicide bombing at a peace rally in Ankara on Oct. 10, 2015.
