ANKARA

Nine Daesh/ISIS terrorists, including four ringleaders, were captured in al-Bab, northern Syria, an area near Türkiye’s southern border, the Turkish Interior Ministry said Sunday.

Intelligence work by the Syrian Task Force al-Bab Gendarmerie Advisory Command under the follow-up and coordination of the Gaziantep Provincial Gendarmerie Command found that Daesh/ISIS units in Syria have been giving training to members of the group in the suicide bombing, sabotage, attack, handmade explosives (IED), assassination, and intelligence and that the terrorists are looking to attack al-Bab and Türkiye, said a ministry statement.

During the operation on Saturday, nine terrorists, including the group’s assassination/execution ringleader and also an assistant of the Syria/Damascus/Maddava region, codenamed Abu Mushap, was detained, along with two logistics supervisors and financial affairs supervisors.

A large cache of digital materials was seized during searches at the residences of the terrorists, who were arrested by the local court to which they were referred.

Al-Bab, cleared of the Daesh/ISIS terror group five years ago through Turkiye's Operation Euphrates Shield, became a safe haven for 400,000 civilians despite mounting attacks of the terrorist group YPG/PKK, but terrorists occasionally try to infiltrate the area.

In line with Article 51 of the UN Charter, Turkiye launched Operation Euphrates Shield in 2016 in al-Bab across its border into northern Syria to prevent the formation of a terror corridor and enable the peaceful settlement of residents.

Al-Bab was cleared of the terror group Daesh/ISIS six months into the operation.