Türkiye arrests top Daesh/ISIS terrorist operating in Syria

By Muhammed Nuri Erdogan

ANKARA (AA) – The Turkish National Intelligence Organization (MIT) on Tuesday nabbed the so-called administrative and financial head of the Daesh/ISIS terror group operating in Damascus, Syria.

An operation was conducted in southern Türkiye targeting the so-called administrative and financial head of Daesh/ISIS, Huzeyfe Al Muri, codenamed Eyyup. He was coordinating financial assistance to organization members in the conflict zones, according to the information obtained by the security sources.

He was identified through MIT's intelligence and risk analyses earlier this month and captured Tuesday in the Mersin province of Türkiye through a coordinated operation by MIT and the General Directorate of Security.

Foreign and local currencies, including $28,800, €14,950, and ₺31,800, as well as numerous digital materials were seized in the operation.

Mobile applications used by Daesh/ISIS elements for money transfers were also identified and MIT has begun to decipher the members of the organization.

According to the sources, Al Muri provided detailed information about the organization, its activities in Syria and Türkiye, members of the terrorist organization Daesh/ISIS with whom he was in contact, and money transfers.

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

The country has since been attacked by the terror group multiple times, with over 300 people killed and hundreds more injured in at least 10 suicide bombings, seven bomb attacks, and four armed attacks. In response, Türkiye launched anti-terror operations at home and abroad to prevent further attacks.

*Writing by Esra Tekin in Istanbul