Turkish intel operations using drone strike blow at terror groups

ANKARA

Türkiye’s National Intelligence Organization (MIT) this year has so far “neutralized” 17 senior terrorists, including ones from the PKK, Daesh/ISIS and the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), the group behind a defeated coup in 2016.

According to information compiled by Anadolu, the MIT continues to fight terrorist groups through both technology and by collecting intelligence in the field.

As many as 17 terrorists, including 11 PKK members, two Daesh/ISIS members, two members of the far-left MLKP, one FETO member, and one al-Qaeda member, were killed or captured in operations supported by armed unmanned aerial vehicles, which is used effectively in both intelligence and operational fields.

Ozgur Namoglu, who was neutralized by the MIT in northern Syria over his alleged links to the MLKP, is among those neutralized.

Turkish authorities often use the word “neutralized” in statements to imply the terrorists in question surrendered or were killed or captured.

Gurbuz, codenamed Ahmet Sores, was behind a 2022 rocket attack on Turkish security forces on the border with Syria, and another 2022 attack on a vehicle carrying prison guards in the northwestern Bursa province.

Along with Gurbuz, Ozgur Namoglu, codenamed Firat Neval, so-called leader of the Syrian branch of the MLKP terror group’s armed wing FESK, was targeted in the same operation.

Also, the MIT “neutralized” Halil Menci, a PKK/YPG terrorist who played a key role in the planning and implementation of a bombing last November in Istanbul that killed six people and injured over 80.

​​​​​​​In another operation, four terrorists were caught, including Daesh/ISIS’s former so-called Türkiye “governor” Sahap Varis, who was in the top red category of the Interior Ministry’s wanted list.

Abu al-Hussein al-Husseini al-Qurayshi, so-called Daesh/ISIS terror group leader, detonated his suicide vest when he realized that he was about to be captured by Turkish intelligence forces last month.

On April 30 the MIT also “neutralized” Sabri Abdullah, a senior member of the PKK/YPG terrorist group in Ayn al-Arab, Syria.

Abdullah, codenamed Mazlum Karamok, had earlier ordered attacks on Turkish cities.

In its almost 40-year terror campaign against Türkiye, the PKK – listed as a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the US, and the EU – has been responsible for the deaths of over 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants.

FETO and its US-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the defeated coup of July 15, 2016 which left 251 people dead and 2,734 injured.

Ankara also accuses FETO of being behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police, and judiciary.

*Writing by Seda Sevencan

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