Posted on Mar 31, 2016
Homeland chairman: 'Active plot underway in Turkey'
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A “covert counterterrorism operation” is underway to halt an extremist plot in Turkey that earlier this week prompted the United States to urge the withdrawal of American families, the head of the House Homeland Security Committee said on Wednesday.
“There’s an active plot underway in Turkey,” Chairman Michael McCaul (R-Texas) said on Fox News’s “America Newsroom.” “This is an imminent threat.
“We had six operatives taken into custody, ISIS operatives, from the caliphate, who basically have been talking about this imminent threat and plot,” McCaul added, referring to the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. “Right now, within Turkey, what’s underway is an attempt to stop this plot.”
The comments appear to confirm a Sky News report earlier in the day that ISIS militants were in the “advanced” stages of a plot against an Istanbul synagogue that is connected to a community center and school.
"This is a more than credible threat. This is an active plot," an unidentified intelligence source told the news outlet.
The source added that the attack might be planned for "the next 24 hours or the next few days.”
“We have this latest warning about what’s happening in Turkey, where ISIS now is targeting Jewish children at schools,” said McCaul.
The House chairman linked the plot to the Obama administration’s call on Tuesday for families of U.S. military officials and diplomats to flee southern Turkey because of security fears. The U.S. warning, which also discouraged American tourists from traveling to the area, only referred to parts of southern Turkey and not to the tourist-heavy city of Istanbul, in the northwest.
According to Sky News, the six ISIS associates were arrested last week in the southern Turkish city of Gaziantep, not far from the border with Syria.
Turkey has faced a repeated barrage of terror attacks in recent weeks, which have been linked to both ISIS and Kurdish separatists.
Earlier this month, a suicide bombing in Istanbul’s popular Istiklal Street that was blamed on ISIS killed at least five people.
“There’s an active plot underway in Turkey,” Chairman Michael McCaul (R-Texas) said on Fox News’s “America Newsroom.” “This is an imminent threat.
“We had six operatives taken into custody, ISIS operatives, from the caliphate, who basically have been talking about this imminent threat and plot,” McCaul added, referring to the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. “Right now, within Turkey, what’s underway is an attempt to stop this plot.”
The comments appear to confirm a Sky News report earlier in the day that ISIS militants were in the “advanced” stages of a plot against an Istanbul synagogue that is connected to a community center and school.
"This is a more than credible threat. This is an active plot," an unidentified intelligence source told the news outlet.
The source added that the attack might be planned for "the next 24 hours or the next few days.”
“We have this latest warning about what’s happening in Turkey, where ISIS now is targeting Jewish children at schools,” said McCaul.
The House chairman linked the plot to the Obama administration’s call on Tuesday for families of U.S. military officials and diplomats to flee southern Turkey because of security fears. The U.S. warning, which also discouraged American tourists from traveling to the area, only referred to parts of southern Turkey and not to the tourist-heavy city of Istanbul, in the northwest.
According to Sky News, the six ISIS associates were arrested last week in the southern Turkish city of Gaziantep, not far from the border with Syria.
Turkey has faced a repeated barrage of terror attacks in recent weeks, which have been linked to both ISIS and Kurdish separatists.
Earlier this month, a suicide bombing in Istanbul’s popular Istiklal Street that was blamed on ISIS killed at least five people.
Homeland chairman: 'Active plot underway in Turkey'
Posted from thehill.com
Terrorism
War on Terror
Middle East
Edited >1 y ago
Posted >1 y ago
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Turkey is definitely in the thick of it and considering our relationship with them and our Base in Incirlick we will be involved also.
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I honestly believe that in the long run ISIS will cost more American lives because we let them get so strong and spread out under this Admin rose colored view of the world.
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