Islamic State terrorists in Turkey act secular to conceal identity

Islamic State terrorists in Turkey have been disguising themselves as nonreligious, alcohol-consuming individuals to evade police scrutiny, a detained top terrorist in northwestern Sakarya province has revealed.

Turkish security forces nabbed Jordanian national A.Z.A.A.D., a suspected high-ranking Daesh member, in Sakarya on Wednesday. He was the so-called “deputy minister of education,” responsible for all of the terrorist group’s educational institutions in regional Daesh strongholds in Iraq and Syria from 2014-2017.

The terrorist used a fake identity, shaved his beard off, tied his hair up in a ponytail and wore stylish outfits to conceal his true identity, the investigators said, according to the Hürriyet daily.

Like the Jordanian national, other Daesh terrorists in Turkey also opted for a secular-image and embraced an anti-social lifestyle to minimize contact with the outside world.

They also put beer bottles in front of their homes to trick passersby into thinking they consume alcohol, which is strictly prohibited in Islam, and even rubbed some on their faces when they went outside.

Authorities also indicated that the terrorist group used social media outlets for their propaganda. For instance, A.Z.A.A.D. allegedly published images of people that were brutally killed by Daesh in support of the group’s propaganda.

Turkish security forces detained 361 suspected Daesh terrorists in nationwide counterterrorism operations in January, Anadolu Agency (AA) reported Thursday.

Fifty of these suspects have been arrested by the court, and some of them are still undergoing legal procedures.

Daesh terrorist Azzo Halaf Solaiman al-Aggal, who supplied explosives used in the deadly Sultanahmet and Suruç terrorist attacks, was detained in Şanlıurfa, while terrorist A.R.S., who was sought with a Red Notice, was nabbed as he attempted to illegally enter Turkey across the Kilis border with Syria.

Source: Daily Sabah