Turkey facilitates ISIS leaders’ move in Syria’s northwest
RAQQA, Syria (North Press) – Maher al-Agal, leader of the Islamic State Organization (ISIS) in Syria, who was targeted by the US, was carrying a security ID provided by Turkish authorities, allowing him to move freely in northwestern Syria, a documentation center revealed to North Press.
On Tuesday, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) announced the killing of al-Agal, the leader of the ISIS in Syria and one of the group’s top five leaders, in a drone strike in Jindires District in Afrin, northwest Syria.
The CENTCOM announced that al-Agal and his assistant were killed while riding a motorcycle near Jindires District, after they were targeted by an American drone.
The drone targeted al-Agal in the village of Khaltan, in Jindires District.
After the attack, photos of the targeted site, the body of al-Agal and his ID went viral on social media.
Al-Agal hails from the village of Qunaitra in the countryside of Tel Abyad on Syrian-Turkish border. He is one of the architects of the ISIS ideology before it took control of the region in 2014.
Al-Agal was one of those responsible for the 2015 explosion that targeted Kurdish activists in the city of Urfa, in Turkey.
The blast killed 35 Kurdish activists, who were preparing to go to Kobani to express their solidarity with it during the ISIS attack on the city, according to the CENTCOM.
“Al-Agal, nicknamed Abu al-Bara’ al-Shamali, is an illiterate person, who is one of the ISIS leaders and the brother of Fayez al-Agal, the wali [governor] of Raqqa, who was killed in a similar drone attack near al-Bab in 2020,” according to a civil activist from the city of Tel Abyad, who currently lives in Raqqa.
The activist, who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear for his family in Tel Abyad, said, “Al-Agal and Sa’eed Al-Kharfan, who was recently killed, were responsible for displacing Kurds from Tel Abyad in 2013.”
Turkish IDs
When al-Agal was killed, he was in possession of an ID carrying the name of Khaled al-Sbeeh, issued by a local council in Afrin that is affiliated with Turkey.
The city of Afrin and its countryside have been occupied by the Turkish forces and their affiliated Syrian opposition armed factions, also known as Syrian National Army (SNA), since 2018 following the Turkish military operation Olive Branch under the pretext of maintaining Turkey’s national security.
Mustafa Abdi, the administrator official of the Violations Documentation Center in North Syria (VDC-NSY), told North Press that the ID was issued by the Turkish-run local council of Afrin under the alias Khaled al-Sbeeh.
Such IDs are linked to Turkish records in the Turkish city of Gaziantep, and are only granted after carrying out extensive security studies by Turkish intelligence, he added.
ID photo
Abdi, who resides in Germany, said that the majority of ISIS leaders in areas in northwestern Syria run by Turkey and its affiliated SNA factions use similar IDs to move freely in the region.
Those IDs are granted by visiting the statistics office of the local council of al-Bab, a Turkish-occupied city in northern Syria, to obtain certain official documents that prove the individuals’ identities, according to Abdi.
Those IDs carry the entire applicant’s data, including the name, nickname, day of birth, name of the area that granted the ID and a number, with all the data written in both Arabic and Turkish. In addition, the applicants undergo a scan of their fingerprints and a personal photo.
“This airstrike represents the culmination of determined and meticulous intelligence work and stands as testament to the bravery and skill of our armed forces,” said a statement issued by the White House, quoting US President Joe Biden as saying.
“The United States does not require thousands of troops in combat missions to identify and eliminate threats to our country,” Biden added.
He said, “His death in Syria takes a key terrorist off the field and significantly degrades the ability of ISIS to plan, resource, and conduct their operations in the region.”
Biden continued, “It sends a powerful message to all terrorists who threaten our homeland and our interests around the world. The United States will be relentless in its efforts to bring you to justice.”
This operation comes as part of a series of airstrikes by the US, following the killing of the former ISIS leader, Abdullah Qardash, known as Abu Ibrahim al-Qurashi.
Since killing of al-Qurashi in February, such operations have been escalated, mainly targeting figures from the first and second ranks of ISIS leaders.
Safe havens
Rami Abdulrahman, director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), told North Press that more than 40 militants, including leaders of ISIS, have been killed by US-led global coalition since al-Baghdadi was killed nearly two years ago in the Turkish-held areas in Syria.
After killing al-Baghdadi on October 27, 2019, the US-led coalition has killed 51 people, including 41 extremist militants of Syrian and non-Syrian nationalities; some of whom are leaders in ISIS, the Guardians of Religion, al-Qaeda and others, Abdulrahman added.
These strikes targeted the areas run by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS, formerly Jabhat al-Nusra) and the Turkish-backed SNA factions, in north, northwest and northeast Syria.