ISIS pickup trucks from Turkey
The Milliyet report stated that around 1,800 vehicles that had been stolen in Turkey since 2013 were shipped to Syria. Many of the vehicles were pickup trucks and panel vans that were used by al-Qaeda, ISIL and their affiliates to mount machine guns for use in battle.(Photo: Today’s Zaman)
The testimony given by members of the gendarmerie who in early 2014 intercepted Syria-bound trucks that were carrying arms to radical groups has revealed the involvement of intelligence operatives in illegally moving stolen vehicles into Syria to be used by Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants.
A gendarmerie officer identified as H.G., who is working in the intelligence branch of the Gendarmerie Ankara Provincial Command, testified during an arraignment hearing last week that they had identified members of the National Intelligence Organization (MIT) as being involved in the trafficking of stolen vehicles bound for Syria during their investigation in 2013.
He said that as part of the gendarmerie intelligence unit they had investigated stolen vehicles in late 2013 and discovered that cars were stolen in İstanbul and then transported to Syria in groups of three to five vehicles with an escort car that had a police license plate. “As a result of the investigation, some 20 people were arrested. Three of these suspects were found to have ties to al-Qaeda,” the officer told the court, adding that when they expanded the scope of their investigation they determined that a suspect named A.D. had dealings with members of MİT.
The officer said the gendarmerie notified MİT about the investigation and the involvement of some MİT intelligence officers in two separate letters. After the first notification was sent, he was surprised to learn that details of the investigation had been leaked to the Milliyet daily, which reported that MİT had secured the detention of the suspects in the stolen car ring.
The Milliyet report stated that around 1,800 vehicles that had been stolen in Turkey since 2013 were shipped to Syria. Many of the vehicles were pickup trucks and panel vans that were used by al-Qaeda, ISIL and their affiliates to mount machine guns for use in battle.
The report claimed that ISIL was operating with a network of thieves who stole the vehicles in İstanbul based on their model and brand name as directed by ISIL.
This news report was corroborated by a January report compiled by law enforcement agencies, which noted that about 2,000 vehicles that have been stolen in Turkey over the last two years were sent to Syria.
Considering that car bomb attacks are often staged with stolen vehicles, the smuggling network poses a threat to Turkey as well.
The deadliest terrorist attack in Turkey’s history took place in the Reyhanlı district in the southern province of Hatay on the border with Syria in 2013, claiming 50 lives.
Turkey also experienced four car bomb attacks in İstanbul in 2003 that left more than 50 people dead and hundreds wounded. Al-Qaeda claimed responsibility for the attacks.
Source: ZAMAN