Two Terrorists Confess to Smuggling Weapons and Gunmen, Receiving Weapon Training from Turkish Security Forces

Terrorists Mustafa Sharrouf and Sobhi Aswad confessed to smuggling gunmen and various types of weapons from Turkey to Syria, and that one of them received weapon training from Turkish security forces at the so-called refugee camps.

In confessions broadcast by the Syrian TV on Saturday, Sharrouf, a 22 year-old Idleb native, said that he and his cousin Alaa Sharrouf and Samer Bakkoure smuggle weapons from Turkey to Syria and smuggling people into Turkey from Syria.

Sharrouf said that a man called Mohammad al-Tabak asked his cousin to provide him with weapons, so they sold him 12 pump-action shotguns with 18 boxes or rounds, and 11 PKC machineguns with its ammo.

Later, while on a smuggling run to bring more weapons for al-Tabak, the terrorists were arrested by the Turkish police who sent them to a “refugee camp” in Yayladagi, and there they were distributed among groups, with Sharrouf’s group numbering around 50.

Sharrouf and his group were trained to use firearms by Turkish officers, then after 25 days he and his cohorts were released and returned to smuggling, bringing al-Tabak anti-air missiles, 6 sniper rifles, 5 machineguns, 10 automatic rifles, 30 grenades, and military uniforms. Their last weapon shipment before being arrested consisted of 11 automatic rifles and 18 pump-action shotguns.

For his part, terrorist Aswad, born in 1980, said he started off smuggling fuel and cows into Turkey with a man called Hussam al-Shahoud, and then they moved on to smuggling weapons after striking a deal with a man in Turkey called Suheil Karadabasht who transported weapons to the Turkish side of the borders, while Aswad and al-Shahoud brought them into Syria through Orontes River and stored them in the latter’s basement.

Aswad said that the weapons then were distributed among terrorist groups by a man called Abdelkader Hajjar and his brothers.

He went on to say that he visited his cousin who lives in Izmir and works in Antioch, and the latter took him to a camp in Rihaniya, where he met people who warned him that visiting the camp was dangerous because he could be arrested by the Turkish security forces and transported to a shelter in Antioch, and they expressed regret over coming to the camp as the Turkish security forces abuse and mistreat them and prevent them from returning to Syria or leaving the camp.

Aswad said that he also visited the camp in Yayladagi, which had a hospital nearby along with a training camp where gunmen from Syria were trained.