Turkey Captures 4 ISIS Suspects before Sneaking into Syria

Two members of the police special forces patrol outside a police station after an attack in Istanbul, Turkey, Aug. 10, 2015. Photo: Reuters/Huseyin Aldemir
Two members of the police special forces patrol outside a police station after an attack in Istanbul, Turkey, Aug. 10, 2015. Photo: Reuters/Huseyin Aldemir
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Turkey Captures 4 ISIS Suspects before Sneaking into Syria

Two members of the police special forces patrol outside a police station after an attack in Istanbul, Turkey, Aug. 10, 2015. Photo: Reuters/Huseyin Aldemir
Two members of the police special forces patrol outside a police station after an attack in Istanbul, Turkey, Aug. 10, 2015. Photo: Reuters/Huseyin Aldemir

Border units from the Turkish armed forces captured Saturday four ISIS suspects in the Akcakale district of Sanliurfa in southeast Turkey, on the Syrian border while they were attempting to cross the frontier illegally.

One of the suspects, identified as Feride Samur, was being sought with a red notice arrest warrant.

ISIS armed members conducted offensives in some Turkish states that claimed more than 300 lives and wounded dozens. The group also claimed responsibility for the gunshot in Reina nightclub during New Year’s Eve 2017.

The group members used Turkey as a passage between Syria and Iraq, during the past years.

Turkish security forces on Sunday arrested 30 ISIS-linked suspects, all foreign nationals, in the capital Ankara before the New Year’s Eve 2019.

In a separate operation, Turkish security forces on Friday arrested 10 Iraqi nationals in the north of the country, suspecting them of having links to the ISIS. According to Anadolu Agency, the arrests were made in northern Samsun province of Turkey.

Turkey prevented some 347 terror acts in 2018, the country's interior minister Suleyman Soylu said. "Last year, we prevented 697 terror acts - which became 347 this year. There is a tremendous struggle and serious success that can't be ignored," Soylu said.

ISIS extremists are blamed in Turkey for a spate of terror attacks including a 2015 bombing on a peace rally in the capital Ankara's train station that claimed 103 lives and wounded more than 500.

In December 2018, Turkish security forces arrested 251 suspected ISIS members, according to data released by the country’s interior ministry.



Lebanon Bans Dealing with Hezbollah Financial Entity

A view shows Lebanon's Central Bank building in Beirut, Lebanon April 4, 2025. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir/File Photo
A view shows Lebanon's Central Bank building in Beirut, Lebanon April 4, 2025. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir/File Photo
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Lebanon Bans Dealing with Hezbollah Financial Entity

A view shows Lebanon's Central Bank building in Beirut, Lebanon April 4, 2025. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir/File Photo
A view shows Lebanon's Central Bank building in Beirut, Lebanon April 4, 2025. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir/File Photo

Lebanon's central bank has banned banks and brokerages from dealing with a Hezbollah-affiliated financial institution, according to a circular, a sign of the group's diminished sway over state affairs since its devastating war with Israel.

Keeping up military pressure on the Iran-backed group, Israel on Tuesday launched some of its heaviest airstrikes since a ceasefire in November, saying it hit training camps and weapons depots in east Lebanon. A security source in Lebanon said 12 people were killed, five of them Hezbollah fighters, Reuters reported.

Hezbollah has faced mounting pressures since the war, including financial ones.

In the circular, dated July 14 and reviewed by Reuters, Banque du Liban prohibited all licensed financial institutions in Lebanon from dealing directly or indirectly with unlicensed entities and listed Hezbollah's Al-Qard Al-Hassan as an example.

The US Department of Treasury imposed sanctions on Al-Qard Al-Hassan in 2007, saying Hezbollah used it as a cover to manage "financial activities and gain access to the international financial system".

Bolstered by its powerful arsenal, Hezbollah had long exercised decisive influence over Lebanese state affairs, but it was unable to impose its will in the formation of a post-war government in February.

Al-Qard Al-Hassan, founded in 1983, describes itself as a charitable organisation which provides loans to people according to Islamic principles that forbid interest. Israel struck some of its branches during its war with Hezbollah last year.

Operating as a not-for-profit organisation under a licence granted by the Lebanese government, it has more than 30 branches, mostly in southern Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley.

SHADOW ECONOMY

A Lebanese official said the central bank move had been in the works for months, and reflected US pressure on Lebanon to take action against Hezbollah's financial wing.

Nassib Ghobril, chief economist at Byblos Bank, said Lebanese banks were already careful to avoid dealing with Al-Qard Al-Hassan because it is under US sanctions.

"The important point is that finally the authorities are addressing the shadow economy in Lebanon, which is the real problem," he said, adding that authorities had long failed to address its "toxic effects".

In June, the European Commission included Lebanon in an updated list of high-risk jurisdictions presenting strategic deficiencies in their national anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism.

Last year, global financial crime watchdog FATF placed Lebanon on its "grey list" of countries under special scrutiny.