Senior ISIL leader arrested along with three others in Istanbul
ISTANBUL
DHA photo
A senior Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) leader based in Istanbul, along with three other suspected ISIL members, were arrested on July 27.Halis Bayancuk, a senior ISIL leader based in Istanbul, also known by his jihadi nickname “Abu Hanzala,” was arrested on July 27 after being detained on July 24 along with his wife in an anti-terror police operation against ISIL-linked suspects in Istanbul, after a suspected ISIL suicide bomber killed 31 mostly young people in the southeastern province of Şanlıurfa’s Suruç district on July 20.
Enes Yelgün, Zeki Murat Sakarya and Murat Alıncak were also arrested by an Istanbul court, while 10 others, who were also detained in the same raid, were released. Two of the 10 people released were put on probation.
Bayancuk and his wife were arrested as the police raided their home in Istanbul’s Bağcılar district and seized a number of ISIL-linked documents, both digital and non-digital.
He was reported to be the leader of an ISIL-linked group based in Istanbul and was under arrest for a time last year, following a police operation against al-Qaeda. Bayancuk also reportedly penned articles for several pro-ISIL media outlets and conducted militant recruiting.
