Morocco arrests Turkish ISIL suspects, Turkey beefs up actions

RABAT

DHA File Photo

Moroccan police have arrested three people on suspicion of hacking telecommunications equipment, including two Turkish nationals who are suspected of having ties to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), Reuters has reported, amid fresh police raids targeting ISIL suspects in Turkey.

Authorities in Morocco said in a statement on Nov. 27 that they uncovered a series of terrorist cells used by ISIL in recent months, including three since the Nov. 13 Paris attacks. The latest group of terrorist cells had been active in the eastern city of Oujda, they added.

“The two Turkish nationals were involved in hacking telephone communications of a Moroccan operator, using developed technical equipment,” the statement said.

The investigation showed that the two Turks were ISIL supporters, with one of them having stayed in a camp in Syria’s Hama province, where he was trained in handling weapons and took part in battles against the Syrian army, it added.

The statement said the two Turks had contacts with operational leaders of ISIL as they were seeking logistical support, adding that the two were the latest foreign nationals, including Europeans Morocco arrested on terrorism charges.

Turkey, meanwhile, deported four ISIL suspects and detained eight others in the southern province of Osmaniye on Nov. 28, security sources told the state-run Anadolu Agency.    

Acting on intelligence gathered, Osmaniye Police Department Counterterrorism Unit officers detained three Algerians and a Lebanese national in a vehicle in downtown Osmaniye.      

The police said the suspects were deported following their interrogation.   

Turkey has beefed up border security measures to prevent cross-border activities and illegal crossings by ISIL militants.

The Turkish General Staff said in a written statement on Nov. 27 that Turkish soldiers detained eight ISIL suspects, including five foreign nationals, in the southeastern province of Kilis, as suspects attempted to cross into the Elbeyli district of Kilis from Syria.

Among the suspects detained were three children.