4 suspected senior members of Daesh remanded in Turkey

By Mustafa Yildirim

IZMIR, Turkey

Four suspected senior members of Daesh terror group were remanded in custody in the western Izmir province of Turkey for managing an armed terror organization, according to a judicial source.

The move came after the suspected terrorists were arrested in a joint operation conducted by the country’s intelligence service (MIT) and anti-terror squads in Konak district last Friday.

Qasir al-Haddawi -- who was the group’s so-called “emir” in Syria’s Deir el-Zour and has reportedly close links to the group’s leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi -- was among those arrested in the operation.

The sources, speaking on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on talking to the media, said that the suspects confessed that they were the high-ranking members of the terror group.

Haddawi, at the police center, said he was injured in conflict areas in Syria and claimed that he arrived in Izmir after being in the southeastern Sanliurfa and Gaziantep provinces for a while.

Over 300 people have lost their lives in Daesh terror attacks in Turkey so far. The terrorist group has targeted civilians with suicide bombs and rocket-and-gun attacks.

Security forces have been involved in a long-running campaign to thwart Daesh attacks in Turkey.