Source: Leader of Istanbul IS cell got to Syria via Georgia

Turkey has declared wanted the leader of the Istanbul cell of the "Islamic State" (IS) (earlier – ISIL), nicknamed as "One-legged Akhmed". This person could get to Turkey from Syria, a source from the Caucasian Diaspora in Turkey told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent on condition of anonymity.

"In the summer of 2012, a group of militants entered an armed clash, when crossing the Russian-Georgian border, with Georgian servicemen. One of the members of that grouping was a Chechen, who lost his leg right in that clash; he was one of the leaders of the grouping," the source said.

According to his version, the grouping was crossing the border aiming to get to Syria. Later, the "One-legged Akhmed" proved himself nicely at war and was sent to Turkey, where he headed the IS cell.

On July 26, Turkey announced a detention in Istanbul of the head of the local IS cell, Abdulla Abdullaev, a citizen of Azerbaijan, and other 35 people. According to other source, Abdulla Abdullaev, who was born in Makhachkala, was a deputy head of the IS cell in Istanbul; while the leader was the above "One-legged Akhmed", a native of Chechnya. It was the latter, who supervised the transportation to Syria of Varvara Karaulova, a student of the Moscow State University, said a law enforcement source.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.