Turkey says it has arrested 115 suspects with links to the Islamic State group who were planning New Year attacks
Taksim Square. Credit line: Alexander Ryumin / Zuma Press / Profimedia
Turkish authorities say they have foiled attacks planned for Christmas and New Year after arresting more than 100 suspected members of the Islamic State group, according to the BBC.
Istanbul's chief prosecutor said on Thursday that extensive raids had taken place at 124 addresses in the city. Authorities seized firearms, ammunition and “organizational documents.”
According to a statement cited by the Turkish news agency Anadolu, investigations by the Anti-Terrorism Directorate of the Istanbul Police found that the group was preparing attacks targeting people of a religion other than Muslim during the holidays.
Officials in Istanbul said ISIS supporters had been actively planning attacks across Turkey this week.
So, the police detained 115 suspects, but efforts to find the other 22 continue, reports the BBC.
The announcement comes two days after Turkish intelligence agents raided the group on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.
A Turkish national who is believed to have held a senior position within the Islamic State wing operating in the region has been detained and charged with planning attacks against civilians. Turkish security services regularly target people suspected of links to the Islamic State group.
Turkey has a 900-kilometer border with Syria, where the group continues to operate in certain parts of the country, the BBC recalls. Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, who has close ties to the Turkish government, has vowed to work with the US and Europe to defeat Islamic State.
US 'massive strikes' after two US soldiers killed
At the end of last week, the US military carried out a “massive attack” to “eliminate Islamic State fighters, infrastructure and weapons caches”, in response to the killing of three American citizens, two of them soldiers, in an armed attack in the Syrian desert, the Pentagon announced, reports the BBC.
The US Central Command (Centcom) reported that fighter jets, attack helicopters and artillery “struck more than 70 targets in several locations in central Syria”. Aircraft from Jordan were also involved.
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The operation used “more than 100 precision munitions” targeting known IS infrastructure and weapons depots, Centcom, which coordinates US military operations in Europe, Africa and the Indo-Pacific region, said in a statement on X.
Operation “Hawkeye Strike” was launched on Friday, at 16:00, US East Coast time (Saturday, 00:00 Romanian time).
Centcom commander Admiral Brad Cooper said the United States “will continue to relentlessly pursue terrorists who seek to harm Americans and US partners in the region.”
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said Islamic State positions near the cities of Raqqa and Deir ez-Zor were targeted, and a senior IS leader and several fighters were killed.
