ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkish police on Tuesday launched further large-scale operations against the Islamic State group across Turkey, detaining 357 suspects, Turkey’s interior minister said.
The attack came a day after deadly clashes in the northwestern province of Yalova in which three police officers and six Islamic State militants were killed. Eight other police officers and a night guard were injured when police stormed a house used as a hideout.
Türkiye has launched a series of operations against the suspected Islamic State group over the past week following reports that operatives were planning attacks to target Christmas and New Year celebrations, authorities said.
Police conducted simultaneous raids in 21 provinces including Istanbul, Ankara and Yalova on Tuesday and detained 357 suspects, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said in a statement posted on X. He did not provide further details.
Earlier, Istanbul’s chief prosecutor’s office said 110 suspects were arrested during raids at 114 addresses.
Some of the suspects were linked to militants who opened fire on police in Yalova, while others were suspected of planning attacks around New Year’s Day, the report said.
Several detainees are suspected of raising funds under the guise of charity and funneling them to Islamic State-linked networks in Syria, according to the prosecutor’s office.
In Ankara, police detained 17 suspects, including 11 foreigners, in raids, authorities said, adding that police had found digital material linking them to Islamic State militants in the conflict zone.
IS has launched a series of deadly attacks in Turkey, the most famous of which was a shooting at an Istanbul nightclub during New Year’s celebrations on January 1, 2017 that killed 39 people.
