Ten foreign nationals detained in western Turkey over links with ISIS terrorist group in Syria

Turkish security forces detained 10 foreign nationals Wednesday over links to the Daesh terrorist organization in counterterrorism operations in western Turkey’s Izmir province.

The Counterterrorism Branch of the Izmir Security Directorate conducted simultaneous operations in the city center, and Bergama and Torbalı districts early in the morning.

Suspects, nine of whom were identified as Syrian nationals with another being Georgian, were detained for having contacts with Daesh terrorists in conflict areas in Syria.

Police also seized an unlicensed gun, a rag bearing the terror group’s symbols, documents, digital materials and a fair amount of cash in raids to the properties belonging to the suspects.

The suspects were taken to the security directorate after the necessary checks were done.

Turkish security forces have been involved in a long-running campaign to rid Turkey of Daesh terrorists. The terrorist group is blamed for a string of terror attacks in Turkey that killed dozens of people over the past three years in Istanbul and Ankara as well as cities in the southeast.

Military operations in Syria and Iraq led to a rapid decline in Daesh territories and the number of its militants. Turkey helped the Syrian moderate opposition, the Free Syrian Army (FSA), to regain control of a number of Daesh-controlled towns in an operation in 2016.

Source: Daily Sabah