More than 100 suspected ISIS members believed to have been planning attacks during the Christmas and New Year season have been arrested in Turkey, authorities said on Thursday.
The Istanbul chief prosecutor’s office said police obtained information that members of the terrorist group were plotting attacks on non-Muslims in particular, during the Christian celebrations in Turkey.
Police arrested 115 of 137 suspects in a series of raids across Istanbul, seized pistols and ammunition.
Some of the suspects were already wanted on terrorism charges at national and international levels, the prosecutor’s office said.
The arrests come days after Turkish authorities conducted a major intelligence-led operation at the Afghanistan–Pakistan border and captured a Turkish citizen accused of having a senior position in ISIS.
The suspect, identified as Mehmet Goren, allegedly helped plan suicide attacks targeting civilians in Turkey, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Europe.
Intelligence officials said Mr Goren had travelled from Turkey to the Afghanistan–Pakistan border region, where he operated in ISIS camps and rose through the group’s hierarchy.
The terrorist group has carried out several deadly attacks in Turkey. In January 2024, two gunmen attacked a Catholic church in Istanbul during Sunday Mass, killing one man.
Early on January 1, 2017, an ISIS gunman killed 39 people celebrating the New Year at a nightclub in Istanbul.
In addition, hundreds of people lost their lives in ISIS attacks on Ataturk Airport in Istanbul and in the south-east city of Diyarbakır between 2015 and 2017.
ISIS suicide bombers attacked a peace rally outside Ankara railway station in October 2015, killing at least 102 people and injuring more than 400 in the deadliest terrorist attack in Turkish history. Trials related to the attack are continuing.
Turkish authorities have intensified intelligence and counterterror operations in recent years against ISIS networks operating domestically and abroad.
Source: The National News
--Agencies
