ISIL terrorist caught ‘preparing to attack on New Year’s Eve’

AFYONKARAHİSAR - İhlas News Agency

An ISIL terrorist who was preparing to target crowded places on New Year’s Eve has been caught in the Aegean province of Afyonkarahisar.

Anti-terror teams initiated an operation upon the notification that the Iraqi is seeking action at Christmas, Jewish and Christian rites events, their places of worship, foreign representations and missions, shopping malls and entertainment centers.

Layth Raad Zaid Al/Refeat, code-named Abu Shuayb, who was found to have been trained for the suicide bombing action, was captured on Dec. 29 in an operation carried out in the house he was staying in Afyonkarahisar. Police proceedings are ongoing.

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

The country has since been attacked by ISIL terrorists multiple times, with at least 10 suicide bombings, seven bomb attacks and four armed attacks, killing 315 people and injuring hundreds more.

A bomb attack on Istanbul’s Istiklal Avenue killed six people and injured 81 on Nov. 13. Turkish authorities blamed the attack on the illegal PKK group and its Syrian affiliate, the YPG.

The deadly attack originated from the Manbij region in northern Syria, which the government considers a major source of the PKK/YPG, Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu said earlier.

Police arrested Ahlam Albashir, a Syrian woman linked to PKK, who had placed the bomb and left the scene. In days, many PKK members connected with Albashir were detained.

Following the arrests, the Turkish army conducted a massive air campaign on PKK targets in northern Iraq and northern Syria. At the end of November, Ankara announced that a cross-border land operation will be conducted on the west of the Euphrates.