The Turkish National Intelligence Organization (MIT) has announced the arrest of one of ISIS’s media operatives in a special operation. According to Turkish media reports, the individual was involved in the media and propaganda apparatus of ISIS-Khorasan (ISIS-K) and played a role in organizing the network, facilitating the movement of fighters, and managing the group’s media activities.
On Wednesday, June 17, Turkish media, citing the National Intelligence Organization, reported that intelligence operatives detained Ahmad Kazanji in a border region and transferred him to Turkey.
According to the report, Ahmad Kazanji was known by the aliases “Abu Ubaida” and “Abu Ibrahim.” It is alleged that following the arrest of Özgür Altun, ISIS’s media coordinator in Turkey, Kazanji continued overseeing the network’s media operations across the region.
Özgür Altun, a senior ISIS member who was on a wanted list, was arrested in June of last year in the Afghanistan–Pakistan border region. Turkish authorities accused him of organizing the transfer of ISIS members from Europe and Central Asia to Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Intelligence assessments by Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization indicate that Ahmad Kazanji traveled from Turkey to the Afghanistan–Pakistan border areas and, after joining ISIS, became active in the group’s training camps.
The report further states that he worked alongside Özgür Altun in facilitating the movement of ISIS fighters from Turkey to the Afghanistan–Pakistan border region.
Turkey’s state-run Anadolu Agency reported that Ahmad Kazanji survived airstrikes targeting ISIS positions in Pakistan and had planned to re-enter Turkey illegally in order to resume his activities.
According to reports, during questioning Kazanji admitted that he had been in contact with Özgür Altun, received ISIS military and ideological training, and participated in the group’s media and propaganda activities.
Writer:Salima Aryaei
