Turkish forces nab 10 Daesh terror suspects in domestic operations
AA Photo


Turkish security forces on Tuesday arrested 10 terror suspects in Ankara-based operations against the Daesh terrorist group in four different provinces.

Ankara Police Department's anti-terrorism and intelligence teams examined images collected by "scraping" in the digital materials obtained from the members of the Daesh terrorist organization who were previously caught and detained, as well as images published for propaganda purposes on the websites affiliated with the organization.

After examining the videos and images obtained during the joint investigation, intelligence and counterterrorism teams determined the identities of the suspects carrying out armed activities within the organization and who had previously entered Turkey.

All of the suspects were taken into custody, and a large amount of digital material and organizational documents were seized during the searches made at their addresses.

The legal proceedings of the suspects in the Ankara Anti-Terror Branch Directorate are ongoing.

Recently, Turkish security forces captured a top Daesh terrorist in a counterterrorism operation.

Terrorist Bashar Khattab Ghazal al-Sumaidai, code-named "Abu Zeyd," was captured in a successful operation by the Turkish intelligence and Istanbul police, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan told reporters on the presidential plane on his way back from a three-nation Balkan tour.

"International reports and the U.N. Security report also contained information that this terrorist was one of the senior executives of the Daesh terrorist organization," he noted.

A U.N. Security Council report published on July 11, 2022, said the terrorist took part in the management of the terror group.

After a meteoric rise in 2014 in Iraq and Syria that saw it conquer vast swathes of territory, Daesh saw its self-proclaimed "caliphate" collapse under a wave of offensives.

It was defeated in Iraq in 2017 and in Syria two years later, but sleeper cells of the extremist group still carry out attacks in both countries.

In 2013, Türkiye became one of the first countries to declare Daesh a terrorist group.

The country has since been attacked by the terrorist group multiple times, with over 300 people killed and hundreds more injured in at least 10 suicide bombings, seven bomb attacks and four armed assaults.

In response, Türkiye launched counterterrorism operations at home and abroad to prevent further attacks.