Daesh makes presence felt in Turkey with shootings

Daesh militants have claimed responsibility for a shooting in Turkey in which a prominent Syrian activist and journalist was injured in the southeastern city of Sanliurfa.

Two people on board a motorcycle fired multiple shots at 33-year-old Ahmad Abdel Qader late on Sunday while he was inside a car in Sanliurfa, Turkey’s Dogan news agency reported.

The city serves as a major hub for Syrian refugees and is 600 kilometers (373 miles) east of the Turkish capital, Ankara.

Daesh propaganda media announced on Monday that Daesh members were involved in the shooting, without providing any further details.

Qader is said to have undergone a surgery for the gunshot wounds and is currently in a stable condition in hospital.

The attack marks the latest in a list of assaults against anti-Daesh activists in Turkey.

In December 2015, Syrian journalist Naji Jerf, known for his opposition to the Daesh terrorist outfit, was shot dead with a silenced handgun in the southeastern Turkish city of Gaziantep.

Jerf had earlier produced documentaries hostile to Daesh and his last work was entitled “Daesh in Aleppo” – a documentary that shed light on the gravity of crimes and human rights violations being perpetrated by the extremists in the northern Syrian city.

The killing came just two months after anti-Daesh activists Ibrahim Abdul Qader and Fares Hamidi were found decapitated in a house in Sanliurfa.

The young activists worked with a group entitled “Raqqa Is Being Silently Slaughtered,” which records Daesh atrocities in the city, the terror group’s main stronghold in Syria.

Ibrahim Abdul Qader was Ahmad’s brother and also the former executive director of Eye on the Homeland.

Turkey has been accused of supporting Takfiri militant groups fighting to topple the Syrian government since March 2011. It also stands accused of being involved in illegal oil trade with Daesh terrorists.

In late May 2015, center-left Turkish daily Cumhuriyet posted on its website footage showing trucks belonging to Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization (MIT) allegedly carrying weapons for extremist groups in neighboring Syria.

The Cumhuriyet video also purportedly showed trucks of the MIT being inspected by security officers.

Ankara denied the allegations, saying the trucks had been carrying humanitarian aid to Syria.

Europeans view Daesh as ‘top threat’

A recent survey shows European nationals place Daesh above all the threats facing their countries, namely climate change, economic instability and the influx of refugees and asylum seekers.

The opinion poll, conducted by the US-based think tank Pew Research Center and published on Monday, revealed that respondents in nine of 10 European countries surveyed viewed Daesh as the greatest danger.

It further showed that 93 percent of Spaniards and 91 percent of the French perceive the Takfiri militant group as a “major threat.”

On November 13, 2015, Daesh launched a series of attacks in the French capital city of Paris, killing some 130 people. Investigations into the incident revealed that the perpetrators were mostly Belgium-based.

In March, bombing attacks claimed the lives of 32 people in the Belgian capital city’s airport and underground train, for which Daesh claimed responsibility.

Daesh ‘world’s richest terror group’

Daesh continues to be the world’s richest terror group, according to a new report. It made some $2.4 billion in revenues last year despite repeated aerial assaults on its oil infrastructure and shrinking territory under its control.

The Center for the Analysis of Terrorism disclosed that Daesh is compensating for its lost oil earnings through imposition of a raft of taxes and squeezing the eight million residents in the areas under its control.

The report, co-authored by terrorism experts Jean-Charles Brisard and Damien Martinez, said Daesh has raised taxes by some 250% and is currently collecting $800 million in annual taxes.

The taxes levied upon people under Daesh control include a 10-percent income tax, a business tax of up to 15%, road tolls, a five-percent tax on all bank cash withdrawals, and taxes of up to 35% on pharmaceutical drugs.

There are also charges for leaving the territory, irrespective of the duration, and there is a special tax on non-Muslims as well.

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