An operative of the militant Islamic State group (IS) was captured at the Pakistan-Afghanistan border in a joint intelligence operation conducted by Pakistan and Türkiye, the latter’s security sources said on Sunday.
Pakistan and Turkiye, which share strong bilateral relations, reaffirmed their commitment to enhancing defence and security cooperation during Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s recent visit to Istanbul.
Ozgur Altun, also known by the codename “Abu Yasir Al Turki”, was arrested in a precision operation jointly conducted by the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and Türkiye’s National Intelligence Organisation (MİT).
Following intelligence sharing, the ISI had been briefed on Altun’s presence in Afghanistan and his intent to cross into Pakistan. After his arrest, he was deported to Türkiye for further investigation.
Altun was identified as the highest-ranking Turkish member of IS and played a key role in the group’s media and logistics networks.
Türkiye’s MİT had tracked Altun’s activities and found that he was allegedly coordinating the movement of IS fighters from Europe and Central Asia to the Pakistan-Afghanistan region.
He was also accused of directing plots targeting concert venues and other civilian sites in Türkiye and across Europe.
The development follows a similar arrest made in March when an operative of the IS-Khorasan was detained by Pakistani authorities and brought to the United States, with President Donald Trump hailing Islamabad’s help.
Mohammad Sharifullah, a “top-tier operational commander”, was responsible for killing 13 US service members in 2021 suicide bombing outside Kabul airport during the chaotic US military withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Though largely crushed by a US-led coalition several years ago, the IS has managed some major attacks while seeking to rebuild.
They include an assault on a Russian concert hall in March 2024, which killed at least 143 people, and in August that year, authorities said a 19-year-old Austrian suspected of masterminding a planned attack on a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna had vowed allegiance to the IS.
It also claimed responsibility for two explosions in the Iranian city of Kerman in January 2024 that killed nearly 100 people, and an assault by suicide attackers on a mosque in Oman in July that year, which left at least six dead.
