Alleged British ISIS fighter captured in İzmir


Turkish anti-terror police have detained Cabdiwahb Cige Moxamed, a British national who returned to Turkey after allegedly fighting for the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) in Syria. Moxamed illegally crossed into Turkey through the country's border province Hatay and traveled to İzmir in western Turkey where he stayed in the workplace of an unidentified Turkish national. He showed a Syrian ID bearing the name "Mustafa Halid" to the police questioning him, but the police found out the identity was fake and found an authentic British passport in his possession. He is currently being held on charges of forgery for his fake Syrian ID. Authorities said the man was arrested on Wednesday. Turkish media reported that the man was planning to cross into Europe via İzmir, a major city on the shore of the Aegean Sea that is among the hubs for illegal immigrants seeking to sneak into Europe through a sea voyage. Yesterday Turkish police also detained nine people including eight Uighurs and two Syrian nationals attempting to enter Syria from the southern province of Kilis. The suspects, who reportedly sought to join ISIS, will be deported. The country stepped up measures along its 911-kilometer border with Syria against infiltration from the war-torn country and vice versa. However, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu has acknowledged that the country will never be able to make the border completely watertight. According to the Foreign Ministry, Turkey has barred entry of around 7,250 people from abroad who were planning to join ISIS and 1,160 would-be fighters were also deported. Britain is seeking further support from Turkey in the field of intelligence of Britons traveling through Turkey to join ISIS. Some 500 Britons are believed to have travelled to the region through Turkey, which is used as a main transit point, and around half that number are believed to have returned to the U.K.