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Suspected ISIL scout in Paris attacks arrested in Turkey's Antalya

21 November 2015 11:59 (UTC +04:00)

The suspect, and two others detained for possible links to him, were arrested by a court on Nov. 21, according to Hurriyyet Dail News.

Ahmet Dahmani, 26, was detained at a luxury hotel in the Mediterranean coastal city of Antalya.

Two other men, 29-year-old Ahmet Tahir and 23-year-old MMohammed Verd -both Syrian citizens- were also detained on a nearby highway on suspicion that they had been sent by ISIL in Syria to ensure Dahmani's safe passage across the border and were planning to meet him. The suspects had fake passports in their possession, the police said.

Counter-terrorism police first became aware of Dahmani when he arrived on a flight toAntalya and tracked him to the hotel in the Manavgat district of the city.

Separately, Turkey deported a group of Moroccans detained at Istanbul's main airport this week over suspected links to ISIL.

The eight, who said they had arrived at Atatürk Airport on Nov. 17 night from Casablanca for a holiday, were detained by border police and questioned by profiling experts who flagged them as suspected militants, a government official told Reuters.