Turkish police detained 71 people on Tuesday in raids against
suspected Islamic State militants in Istanbul and other cities, the
local news agency Dogan reported, while the army said it caught 17
militants attempting to cross into Syria.
The sweep comes a day
after police launched a series of operations against Islamic State
groups, including a raid on more than a dozen houses in the southeastern
city of Diyarbakir where seven militants were killed and 12 more
captured.
Turkish authorities have extended operations against
suspected Islamic State cells after a double suicide bombing in Ankara
this month that killed more than 100 people, the worst attack of its
kind in Turkey's modern history. The bombing was blamed on the militant
group.
"With yesterday's operation, we prevented an attack bigger
than that in Ankara. We captured many devices and materials used to make
bombs. Senior names from Islamic State's Turkish unit were killed in
the operation," a security official told Reuters.
"One
suicide bomber with explosives wrapped around his body was also killed
in the operation, before he found a chance to attack security
personnel," the official said.
In Tuesday's operation, 21 people,
including seven children, were detained in simultaneous raids on houses
in Istanbul, Dogan news agency reported. Thirty people were detained in
the central city of Konya and 20 others in Kocaeli, an industrial
province east of Istanbul, Dogan said.
Separately, the Turkish
military said 17 people attempting to cross illegally into Syria were
caught in the Elbeyli province of Kilis.
Last week, President
Tayyip Erdogan said Syrian intelligence and Kurdish militants, not only
Islamic State, were behind the Ankara attack, which occurred during a
rally of pro-Kurdish activists and civic groups.
Tuesday, October 27, 2015
Turkish police detain 71 in raids against Islamic State
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Write comments