The Turkish National Intelligence Organization (MIT) has neutralised Mahmut Agca, codenamed "Azad," one of the so-called leaders of the PKK/YPG in northeastern Syria's Ayn al Arab town, through a precision operation.
According to security sources, MIT had placed Agca on its priority target list after determining his involvement in organising several terrorist attacks in Türkiye since 2015.
Agca was tracked to a house in Ayn al Arab, where he was holding an organisational meeting.
He was neutralised in a pinpoint operation.
Having joined the terrorist organisation in 2006, Agca was identified as one of the planners of several attacks, including the August 29, 2015, attack in Sanliurfa that claimed the lives of two police officers, and the August 10, 2016, attack in Diyarbakir’s Sur district, which targeted a police service vehicle, killing six civilians and injuring 17 people, including nine law enforcement personnel.
Furthermore, Agca was found to have planned the December 10, 2016, twin bombings in Istanbul’s Besiktas district, which killed 47 people, including 40 police officers, and injured 242 others.
He was also responsible for the January 8, 2022, attack in Sanliurfa's Akcakale district, where three soldiers were killed, and one was injured by an explosive device planted along a military vehicle’s route.
Most recently, he was linked to the August 7, 2024, attack in Azaz, Syria, where an explosives-laden truck was used in an attack targeting members of the Syrian National Army (SNA) at a checkpoint.
14 killed in Manbij terror attack
At least 14 people were killed and 15 others injured in a terrorist attack in the Manbij city of Syria's Aleppo province on Monday, local sources said.
A bomb-laden vehicle exploded at the southern entrance of Manbij, which is under the control of the Syrian National Army.
The wounded were taken to the surrounding hospitals, and there are concerns the death toll may rise.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but local security forces said it might have been carried out by the PKK/YPG terrorist organisation.
The SNA liberated Manbij from the terrorists in December 2024 as part of the Operation Dawn of Freedom.
In its 40-year terror campaign against Türkiye, the PKK -- listed as a terrorist organisation by Türkiye, the US, and EU -- has been responsible for the deaths of over 40,000 people, including women, children, infants, and the elderly.
The YPG is its Syrian offshoot.
Since the fall of the Bashar al Assad regime in Syria, the terrorist group has attempted to exploit regional instability to create a "terror corridor" along the border with Türkiye.
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