Turkish police detained 37 ISIS suspects in anti-terror operations in provinces across Turkey, media said on Wednesday, while officials said another suspect was held carrying more than 5 kg (11 lb.) of explosives at the border with Syria.
The governor's office in the southern province of Hatay said the Syrian citizen was caught on Tuesday trying to cross illegally into Turkey from Syria with 5.25 kilograms of TNT and nine detonators.
Police detained 25 people in simultaneous raids in nine provinces including Istanbul overnight, targeting ISIS suspects who had been on a security watchlist for the past four months, the private Dogan news agency reported.
In a separate set of operations, police detained 12 individuals, 2 of them children, in southern Adana province with suspected links to the ISIS overnight, Dogan said, adding that one of them was an 12-year-old Indonesian girl.
Turkey has detained more than 5,000 ISIS suspects in recent years and deported some 3,290 foreign militants from 95 different countries, according to Turkish officials. It has also refused entry to at least 38,269 individuals.
-
Erdogan: Turkey and US can turn Raqa into 'graveyard' for ISIS
Turkey and the United States can join forces to turn ISIS’s defacto capital of Raqa in Syria into a “graveyard” for the militants, ... World News -
Turkey wants US envoy on ISIS removed over Kurdish policy
Turkey said on Thursday the US special envoy in the battle against ISIS should be removed because he supported Kurdish militants, and warned that ... Middle East -
US assures Turkey over arming Kurds in ISIS fight
The US military offered assurances to Turkey on Thursday over supplying arms to Kurdish fighters against ISIS, after Ankara called the move ... Middle East -
US will take weapons from Kurds after ISIS defeat: Turkey
The United States has told Turkey it will take back weapons supplied to the Kurdish YPG militia in northern Syria after the defeat of ISIS, Ankara ... Middle East