2 ISIS members caught in Istanbul with police and gendarmerie uniforms

According to the information obtained, the operation against a 2-person ISIS cell, believed to be searching for an opportunity to carry out an attack, was launched in recent days.

The 2-person cell, consisting of a man and a woman of Tajik and Kyrgyz origin who were allegedly planning an attack, was followed step-by-step by MIT field agents. Information regarding the ISIS members, who had been in the ranks of the terrorist organization for a long time, was reported to the police.

HIDDEN IN THE BASEMENT OF THE HOUSE

The Istanbul Police Department Intelligence Branch and Counter-Terrorism (TEM) teams, which continue their operations against complex crime and terror networks across the city without interruption, placed the suspects linked to ISIS under surveillance and tracked them step-by-step. Obtaining information that the 2 cell members of Central Asian origin were hiding in the basement of a house in Pendik, security forces placed the address where the suspects were staying under surveillance. The teams raided the house where Fazıljon A. (37), a Tajik national codenamed "Abu Ismail" who is seen as the main perpetrator of the advanced-stage attack plan, and his assistant Zulfııa S. (41), of Kyrgyz origin, were hiding.

GENDARMERIE UNIFORM AND POLICE VEST FOUND

During the operation, Fazıljon A. and Zulfııa S. were captured and taken into custody. In the searches conducted in the house where the ISIS members were hiding, authorities found gendarmerie uniforms, a police vest, a vehicle siren system, a police cap, a vehicle radio, a knife, a gun holster, and organizational materials, which were determined to be part of the plan and intended to be worn during the escape before and after the attack.

REVEALED TO BE TAJIK

It was determined that the suspects were making plans to carry out a terrorist act in Turkey. It was identified that the organizer and coordinator of the attack, which is considered to be still in the preparation phase, was the Tajik suspect Fazıljon A., codenamed "Abu Ismail." It has not yet been stated who or what the target of the suspects, who are understood to have been in the ranks of ISIS for a long time and against whom evidence of planning an attack was reached, was. While it is understood that an advanced attack plan was prevented with the dismantling of the cell, it was learned that the two ISIS members were captured as a result of days of work.

DEPORTED

The organization members, whose statements were taken at the Istanbul Counter-Terrorism Branch, are being investigated to see if they have other contacts in Turkey. Both suspects were brought to court after their interrogations at the police station were completed. It was learned that the Tajik ISIS member Fazıljon A. was arrested by the court, while the female suspect of Kyrgyz origin, Zulfııa S., who was identified as his assistant, was deported.

News Source: İHA