Turkish law enforcement agencies have arrested two individuals, a Tajik citizen named as Faziljon A. and a Kyrgyz national identified as Zulfiya S., on suspicion of planning a terrorist attack in Turkey on behalf of Islamic State (IS). Their arrest was reported by the Turkish newspaper Hurriyet.
The man and woman were caught during a raid on a house in Istanbul where IS members were hiding. The search of the property uncovered police uniforms and vests, emergency vehicle lights, police hats, car radios, knives and gun holsters – as well as some clothes that the suspects may have planned to wear for their escape.
According to Hurriyet, officials determined that the Central Asian nationals planned to carry out the attack within Turkey. Faziljon A., from Tajikistan with the code name Abu Ismail, was named as the organizer of the attack.
Istanbul’s Anti-Terrorism Department is investigating whether the arrested suspects have connections with any other people in Turkey. Both were interrogated before being taken to court. Faziljon A., a known member of Islamic State in Tajikistan, has been detained by the court; his associate, Zulfiya S., originally from Kyrgyzstan, was deported. Between March 27 and March 31, Turkish forces detained 51 IS suspects.
