Erdogan: ISIS Members Evacuated from Raqqa Went to Egypt

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan addresses members of parliament from his ruling AK Party (AKP) during a meeting at the Parliament in Ankara, Turkey, November 7, 2017. Reuters
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan addresses members of parliament from his ruling AK Party (AKP) during a meeting at the Parliament in Ankara, Turkey, November 7, 2017. Reuters
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Erdogan: ISIS Members Evacuated from Raqqa Went to Egypt

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan addresses members of parliament from his ruling AK Party (AKP) during a meeting at the Parliament in Ankara, Turkey, November 7, 2017. Reuters
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan addresses members of parliament from his ruling AK Party (AKP) during a meeting at the Parliament in Ankara, Turkey, November 7, 2017. Reuters

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said that terrorists who fled Raqqa, Syria, went to Egypt to fight in the Sinai Peninsula.

“ISIS elements who fled Raqqa, which was freed from the terrorist organization in a joint operation by the US-led coalition and the Syrian Democratic Forces SDF in October, were sent to Egypt to carry out operations in the Sinai desert,” Erdogan said Tuesday.

He accused the United States, during a meeting of the AKP parliamentary bloc in Ankara, of trying to use the weapons it has sent to the region against Iran, Turkey, or Russia.

The Turkish President, who said his country had achieved great success in fighting ISIS while other countries were forming alliances with "terrorist organizations" (in reference to the coordination between Washington and the Kurdish People's Protection Units YPG in Syria), did not disclose more details about the number of terrorists who moved to Sinai or how they infiltrated Egypt.

In this context, press reports revealed Ankara's warning to Europe that hundreds of terrorist "elements" who fled Raqqa, will resume their terrorist activities there.

According to a report published on Tuesday by The Times, hundreds of ISIS terrorists are headed towards Europe after secretly escaping Syria thanks to a deal struck between the terror group and the SDF, which is mostly made up of the YPG.

The controversial deal allowed hundreds of ISIS militants to escape Raqqa during civilians' evacuation, paving the way for the terrorists to enter mainland Europe via smuggling routes - a danger Turkey has warned Europe of on many occasions, the report explained.

The Times report also included an interview with one of those arrested, Saddam al-Hamadi, 26, who said that hundreds of ISIS militants had taken advantage of the exodus of people during the deal to get to Turkey.

"It was an easy route to cross. Even if the YPG catch you, you will be held for 10 or 15 days and then released," he said.

The Times also quoted an unnamed Turkish official, who said there had been a significant increase in the number of terrorists caught trying to cross the border into Turkey.

The report also said that ISIS terrorists paid human traffickers as little as $300 to use the same routes as civilians to reach Turkey before fleeing to Europe.



Israel Says Apprehended Members of Iran-backed Cell in Syria

06 July 2025, Palestinian Territories, Tulkarm: An Israeli soldier enforces a ban as he attempts to enter the Tulkarm refugee camp in the West Bank. Photo: Nasser Ishtayeh/SOPA Images via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
06 July 2025, Palestinian Territories, Tulkarm: An Israeli soldier enforces a ban as he attempts to enter the Tulkarm refugee camp in the West Bank. Photo: Nasser Ishtayeh/SOPA Images via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
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Israel Says Apprehended Members of Iran-backed Cell in Syria

06 July 2025, Palestinian Territories, Tulkarm: An Israeli soldier enforces a ban as he attempts to enter the Tulkarm refugee camp in the West Bank. Photo: Nasser Ishtayeh/SOPA Images via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
06 July 2025, Palestinian Territories, Tulkarm: An Israeli soldier enforces a ban as he attempts to enter the Tulkarm refugee camp in the West Bank. Photo: Nasser Ishtayeh/SOPA Images via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa

Israel's military said Monday it had apprehended members of an Iran-backed cell in southern Syria, the second such operation it has announced in the past week.

Since the December overthrow of Syria's longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad, Israel has carried out hundreds of air strikes primarily on military sites and carried out cross-border ground raids.

In a statement, the military said troops "completed an overnight operation to apprehend a cell that was operated by the Iranian Quds Force in the Tel Kudna area of southern Syria."

"For the second time in the past week... troops completed a targeted overnight operation and apprehended several operatives who posed a threat in the area," the statement added.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor said Israeli forces raided early Monday a village in the Quneitra countryside of southern Syria and "carried out searches targeting several homes, which ended with the arrest of two brothers".

On Wednesday, Israel's military said its forces had apprehended members of an Iranian-backed "terrorist cell" in southern Syria and seized weapons.