ISIL’s ‘key’ Raqqa figure captured in Turkey’s south

HATAY

A suspect who is reportedly a key figure for the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant’s (ISIL) operations in Syria’s Raqqa was captured and taken under interrogation in southern province Hatay, Doğan News Agency reported on Dec. 7.

The anti-terror police, captured a man of Syrian origin, Mohanad Alsanad, in an operation, announcing he had entered Turkey illegally by passing through the Reyhanlı district on the shared border.

Alsanad was the so-called “financial head” of ISIL operations in the militant group’s former capital, Raqqa, Turkish officials announced.

Earlier in the day, 12 suspects of Syrian origin were also captured and detained in operations carried out at dawn by the anti-terror police in Adana in Turkey’s southern coast over suspected ISIL-links.

The detained suspects were reported to have been supplying ammunition to conflict zones.

Turkey’s Special Forces Command broke into 14 predetermined addresses and detained the suspects whom were understood to have been in communication with ISIL militants in Syria, and who were supporting ISIL in terms of recruitment as well delivering ammunition.

The suspects captured in Adana were taken to the police station following their medical examinations.

In Hatay’s Kırıkhan district on the southern province, a 23-year-old suspect was captured by gendarmerie forces for attempting to enter Syria illegally to join ISIL.

The suspect, who reportedly admitted he was on his way to join ISIL during the interrogation, had an unregistered shotgun and knife on him when he was captured.

Three other suspects of Syrian origin were captured and detained in Hatay on the same day, on suspicion of links to al-Nusra.

While one suspect was arrested on charges over al-Nusra, the other two were released on a judicial court decision.