Top ISIS Commander in Turkey Captured

Turkey has captured a top member of the extremist Islamic State group responsible for operations on its territory, the interior minister announced on Tuesday. The jihadist group has claimed responsibility for a spate of deadly attacks in Turkey, including an assault on an upscale Istanbul nightclub during New Year’s Eve festivities just minutes into 2017, which left 39 people including tourists dead. “Daesh’s so-called Turkey emir [commander] has been captured and detained,” Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu tweeted, using a pejorative Arabic acronym for ISIS, while praising the Turkish police. Soylu said police seized “important plans,” which included plots to kidnap Turkish politicians and attack businesses, during the arrest of the commander, identified only as “Mahmut O.” A report published by the US European Command last month said Turkey remained a “major facilitation hub” for the group, noting that it uses the country “in particular to facilitate money movements.”