Senior ISIL figure, six militants caught in eastern Turkey

Counterterrorism police organized simultaneous operations on six addresses on May 16 and detained a total of seven suspected militants from the jihadist organization. 

Among the detainees was F.Ş., who is an alleged senior figure of ISIL and also worked as the group’s executioner.

A large number of documents belonging to ISIL were also seized after a thorough investigation of the suspects’ residencies, according to reports.

All suspects were brought to the provincial police department following medical examinations at the Elazığ Training and Research Hospital. 


27 ISIL militants killed

Meanwhile, some 27 ISIL militants were killed on May 15 in shelling by the Turkish army and air operations by the U.S.-led coalition forces in northern Syria.

Turkish artillery unites shelled and fired multiple rocket launchers at ISIL positions north of Aleppo that were spotted by reconnaissance and surveillance vehicles.

Coalition warplanes also provided support by conducting three separate air operations.

In total, 27 militants were killed in operations conducted in the al-Bil, Sheikh Rih, Faydiyuah, Mazraa, Tal Hishin and Baragitah regions, according to military sources.

Five defense positions and two weapon launching sites used by the jihadist group were also destroyed.
It has also been reported that opposition forces seized the ISIL-controlled Faydiyuah, Sheikh Rih and Tel Hishin regions amid ongoing assaults.

Recently, the Turkish military has intensified cross-border operations against ISIL in northern Syria along with the U.S.-led coalition, amid deadly rocket attacks targeting the southeastern border province of Kilis.

A separate report provided figures for the three-day period from May 13 until yesterday, claiming that a total 68 ISIL militants were killed and nine weapon emplacements were destroyed in joint operations which include Turkish cross-border shelling and air operations by the U.S.-led anti-ISIL coalition. 

Military sources suggest that seven militants were killed by howitzer fire from Turkey’s southeast, which also destroyed a mortar firing position, a firing position and two other sites. 

In coalition air operations that took place over the same period, 61 ISIL militants were killed and five firing positions were destroyed, sources said.