ANKARA - Turkish intelligence agencies conducted an operation, during which they gained access to a secret database of the Islamic State terrorist organisation (IS, banned in Russia) with the names of almost 10,000 so-called lone wolf terrorists, reported Sputnik quoting Turkish newspaper Sabah on Wednesday, citing security sources.
The dossier contained biographies of the repentant members of the terrorist organisation, details about their special training, organisational skills, and weapons used, as well as their nationality, family members, addresses, and contacts, the report said.
The hunt for the database reportedly started with a phone call in the Tajik language wiretapped by Turkish intelligence agencies. It was revealed that the IS was negotiating the sale of some kind of "cargo" and that the exchange would take place in Istanbul. However, neither the contents of the "cargo" nor when the exchange would take place was known. The "cargo" turned out to be an electronic data carrier containing the biographical data of 9,952 terrorists scattered around the world. These people, who were called "lone wolves," had not been previously compromised and were able to conduct attacks alone.
Multiple intelligence services, including the United States Central Intelligence Agency, the United Kingdom's MI6, Israel's Mossad, and the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence, have been conducting counterintelligence and espionage activities against the IS for many years with a purpose of infiltration, the newspaper reported. Dozens of their special agents under various fake names traveled to the mountains of Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Pakistan trying to get access to the dossier. - BERNAMA-SPUTNIK