Turkey arrests 16 Syria-bound Indonesians

Turkey has announced the detention of 16 Indonesian nationals that allegedly attempted to cross its border into Syria in a bid to join the ISIL Takfiri terrorists.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Friday that security forces were also looking for a separate group of 16 Indonesian citizens that have gone missing in the country.

This is while local Turkish news outlets reported that 11 children and five women were among the captured Indonesians without elaborating on the ages of the detained kids.

Cavusoglu also said Turkey and Indonesia have been cooperating and sharing intelligence in an effort to locate the 16 missing Indonesians who are suspected to have left their native country to travel to Syria.

Turkey is widely believed to be facilitating the flow of foreign nationals into neighboring Syria and Iraq, where they join the ranks of extremist terror groups. Ankara is known as a staunch supporter of ISIL fighting the governments of Syria and Iraq.

The Turkish foreign minister made the announcement a day after declaring that the nation’s authorities had taken into custody a foreign intelligence service operative that had allegedly helped three young British girls cross into Syria.

Cavusoglu (pictured above) further elaborated on Friday that detained operative is a Syrian national who had worked for the intelligence service of a country that is part of the so-called anti-ISIL coalition led by the US. He refused to identify the country.

Local Turkish press reports, however, have cited government sources as saying the intelligence agent was employed by the Canadian government.

The ISIL terrorist group, with members from several Western countries, controls swathes of land in Syria and Iraq, and has been carrying out horrific acts of violence such as public decapitations and crucifixions against all communities such as Shias, Sunnis, Kurds and Christians.