Japan detains national for trying to join IS

Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga confirmed  that a Japanese national has been detained in Turkey for trying to join Islamic State (IS) militants.

Suga told reporters the government had been notified by the Turkish authorities that a Japanese man who had attempted to join the Islamic State group was detained by security forces near the Syrian border early on Wednesday (March 23).

Suga said the Japanese government had not prior knowledge of the man’s plans.

“It is true that if we have any specific information regarding Japanese travel to Syria, we have been dissuading them individually,” he said, adding: “But, with regards to this Japanese man, we did not have any information beforehand.”

The 24-year-old Japanese was on his way to Syria to join the ranks of the radical group, when he was detained in the Karkamis district of Gaziantep province, just across the border from the Islamic State (IS) -controlled Syrian town of Jarablus, according to Turkish sources said.

The man, who Turkish media are calling “M.M.”, made contact with the militants through social media, the sources said. He is due to be deported once authorities finish with his interrogation, the sources said.

Last year Islamic State claimed responsibility for the killing of a Japanese man in Bangladesh. Earlier in 2015, Islamic State (IS) militants said they had beheaded two Japanese hostages.