Story highlights
Jihadi John associate who planed to direct Europe attacks was arrested in Turkey, newspaper reports
Aine Lesley Davis was caught after intelligence officials tracked a messenger in Raqqa
Raqqa airstrikes that likely killed Jihadi John started hours after Davis arrest
An associate of Jihadi John was arrested in Istanbul on Friday while on his way to Europe to deliver orders on a planned terror attack, leading Turkish newspaper Hurriyet reported Tuesday and a Turkish official confirmed to CNN.
Aine Lesley Davis was arrested after Turkish intelligence worked with British MI6 to monitor the movements of a messenger linked to Jihadi John inside the Syrian city of Raqqa and received information on Davis’ plans, Hurriyet said.
Davis, a former drug offender from West London turned-ISIS jihadist, disappeared in Syria in 2013 to fight with ISIS, officials said.
Davis was noncommunicative during the interrogation “and all information was gathered through a digital investigation of his phone line,” the newspaper said.
Turkish National Intelligence also shared possible locations in Syria of Jihadi John with the CIA and MI6, according to the report.
The airstrikes in Raqqa came just hours later. The United States says it is reasonably certain Jihadi John was killed in the drone strike.