Police on alert to find three ISIL militants in Turkey after new attacks

ISTANBUL – Doğan News Agency

Counter-terrorism and intelligence police units in Turkey have been on alert following a tip-off that three Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants were recently ordered to conduct attacks across Turkey in crowded places, especially in Istanbul.
Police have shared pictures of three ISIL militants - Hacı Ali Dumaz, codenamed Mervan; Savaş Yıldız, codenamed Ebu Cihat; and Yunus Durmaz, who uses the codenames Abdüllatif Efe, Sarı Yunus and Muhammed Ali. 

Durmaz is subject to an arrest warrant after the Oct. 10, 2015, Ankara suicide bombing on a peace protest, the largest terror attack in the country’s history which claimed 103 lives. 

In a raid on his apartment in the southeastern province of Gaziantep, officials uncovered a number of terrorist attack plans stored in digital folders as well as notes on inspections prepared for possible future attacks at 26 points in 19 provinces, including  Ankara, Istanbul, İzmir, Antalya, Adana, İskenderun and Mersin.

Yıldız was already being sought over bomb attacks targeting Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) district offices in Adana and Mersin in May 2015. 

In one of the photos he is shown having infiltrated an HDP rally, holding a party flag.

Turkey is on alert following recent suicide bomb attacks in the capital Ankara and Istanbul. The latest terror attack hit central Istanbul’s İstiklal Avenue on March 19, killing five and wounding 39 people.