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IS militant with Swiss connections sentenced in Turkey

The Turkish-Syrian border was a violent trouble spot in 2014, and the situation has only worsened AP Photo

An Islamic State (IS) militant reported to have grown up in Switzerland has been given multiple life sentences by a Turkish court for his part in a number of murders.

The man was sentenced for murder alongside two others on Wednesday for an attack in Nigde, central Turkey in 2014 that left a solider, a policeman and a truck driver dead. The shootings were carried out during an attempted hijacking of the truck.

The IS convert with connections to Switzerland was given five life sentences, his German accomplice four, and the third man, from Macedonia, one. They will also have to pay fines.

Court documents revealed that the men received training in Syria at an IS camp and had planned to stage an attack on Istanbul.

Swiss media has reported that one of the men grew up in Aargau, a neighbouring canton to Zurich, though he has roots in Kosovo or Macedonia. The Swiss foreign ministry confirmed that the man in question is not a Swiss citizen, despite reports that court documents referred to the man as alternately Swiss or Serbian.

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SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR