The Violations Documentation Center in northern Syria (VDC-NSY) said that Turkey has recently released a former official (Emir) of the Islamic State group (ISIS) responsible for murders and kidnappings of Syrians after he was held in a prison of a Turkish-backed armed group in the town of Tal Abyad, in northern Syria.
In a report published on Saturday, The Violations Documentation Center documented through several sources from Tal Abyad the release of a former official of ISIS, Faisal Blou, known as Emir (Prince) Abu Ahmed, from the prison of the pro-Turkish group Failaq al-Sham on April 3rd. He then returned to his home in the village of al-Badia, south of Tal Abyad.
The report said that the former ISIS official was responsible for the killings and kidnappings of dozens of civilians during the ISIS control period, as the report included a testimony about Blou’s role in the killing of five members of a family who had been displaced from Raqqa to Tal Abyad in 2015. This is in addition to the seizure of 12 cars, which were transporting approximately 160 passengers from Kobani to the city of Qamishli on February 22, 2014, near the village of Aliya on M4 highway, 20 km west of Tal Tamr, according to VDC-NSY.
The center confirmed that Blou, who was holding the position of Emir of northern sector and Emir of the Council of Tribes in the province of Raqqa, has now returned to his home, accompanied by Raghed Youssef, a leader of Turkish-backed National Army, who was also a security official in ISIS, according to the report.
Also, according to the report, Blou moved to the town of Azaz in northern Aleppo countryside, then to Turkey to join the ranks of the National Army as the leader of al-Qadisiyah group to participate in the attack on the town of Tal Abyad in October 2019. He was then arrested by the National Army because of increased complaints about his seizure of residents’ houses and properties.
In late 2019, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights revealed the names of a number of ISIS elements who fought alongside pro-Turkish National Army groups in the battles to control the areas Sere Kaniye (Ras al-Ain) and Tal Abyad in northeastern Syria.
