A terrorist who plotted an attack at the heart of Istanbul last year was eliminated in an operation in Syria, Turkish authorities announced on Wednesday.

Security sources said Nabo Kele Hayri, a top PKK member, was "neutralized" by the National Intelligence Organization (MIT) in Syria’s Hasakah, a town that was seized by the YPG, the Syrian wing of the PKK terrorist group. The term "neutralized" is used to describe terrorists captured dead or alive. Photos shared by Turkish media outlets showed twisted debris of a vehicle in which the terrorist – also known as "Mazlum Afrin" – was traveling in.

Another terrorist Hayri, who was eliminated in an operation on Tuesday, was serving in the terrorist group’s "intelligence" unit involved in carrying out attacks in Türkiye.

He had been under MIT surveillance after his location was detected in Syria. Security sources said Hayri was part of a 14-person "intelligence unit" established in May 2022 to carry out attacks targeting Türkiye. He served in different sections of the terrorist group in Syria and was already involved in attacks targeting Syrian opposition forces and Turkish security forces inside Syria. He was behind a May 2021 attack that killed four civilians in an area liberated from terrorists with the help of the Turkish army. He sustained injuries in one of his eyes during a shootout with Syrian opposition forces.

Security sources said Hayri, for two weeks, personally trained Ahlam Albashir Saleh, the female terrorist who left the bomb on Istiklal Street, in Syria and helped her infiltrate Türkiye before the attack.

This is the second operation by MIT in Syria against the Istanbul attack perpetrators. In February, Halil Menci, who guided Saleh and Bilal Hassan, another perpetrator of the attack and helped Hassan flee abroad after the attack, was eliminated in Syria.