Belgian ISIS Fighter Captured in Turkey After Fleeing Syrian Prison Camp

Fatima Benmezian, 24, managed to escape from her Kurdish prisoner camp but was quickly arrested in Turkey, reports Het Laatste Nieuws.

This Belgian Daesh fighter is originally from Borgerhout (Antwerp). She was being held prisoner in the Ain Issa camp, in northern Syria.

As Turkey launched an offensive against the Kurds, Fatima Benmezian was able to plan her escape. The Belgian Daesh fighter is said to have crossed the border with the help of smugglers.

Upon arrival in Kilis, a town in southeastern Turkey, near the border with Syria, about 240 km from Ain Issa, Fatima Benmezian was arrested.

It appears that this was a deliberate arrest to allow Fatima Benmezian to be sent back to Belgium, her country of origin, especially since Turkey threatens to deport all captured jihadists present on its territory to their countries of origin.

"We will keep them under our control for some time. Then we will send them back to their countries," said Süleyman Soylu, Turkish Minister of the Interior.