Terror groups ‘infiltrated’ by Syrian regime: Official

By Adham Kako, Selen Temizer and Mohamed Misto

ANKARA

The Assad regime has infiltrated terrorist groups such as Daesh and has information about terror attacks carried out in Turkey, a Syrian official has claimed.

In an interview broadcast this week on Syrian state television, Khaled Abboud, a Syrian parliamentary official, said terrorist attacks could not be preempted without the cooperation of the Assad regime.

"Where are Daesh, the Nusra Front and other Jihadist revolutionary groups?" Abboud asks the presenter at one point. "They’re sitting on the outskirts of Damascus."

He went on to ask why terrorist attacks seldom occur in the Syrian capital.

"Why do terror attacks only happen in Turkish cities?" he wondered.

"The Syrian security establishment and Syrian intelligence have penetrated these [terrorist] networks," he stressed.

He went on to assert that the Assad regime held a degree of control over some of these groups.

"No one can stop what is happening [i.e., terrorist attacks] in Turkey without the cooperation of the Syrian security establishment," he said.

According to Abboud, who is known for his close ties to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian state is "aware to a large extent of what is happening [i.e., terrorist activity] in Jordan and Turkey".

Daesh bombings have become increasingly frequent in Turkey since Ankara launched Operation Euphrates Shield last summer.

The operation is aimed at eliminating terrorist threats in northern Syria near the Turkish border.