Turkish police detain 60 ISIS terror suspects in Turkey ahead of New Year’s Eve celebrations

Police detained 38 people, including Syrian citizens, over suspected links to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in an operation on Dec. 28 in the northwestern province of Bursa, state-run Anadolu Agency said.

Counter-terrorism police carried out simultaneous raids on homes in various districts of Bursa, smashing doors open with battering rams and searching the properties, it said.

In another operation centered around the southeastern province of Van, 22 others were detained on Dec. 28 in three provinces, again over suspected links to the ISIL. Among 22 people, 13 were detained in Van, eight in the southeastern province of Diyarbakır and one in the southeastern province of Mardin, the Van security directorate said on Dec. 28.

“During physical searches of the detainees, their homes and work places, numerous digital materials and organizational documents have been seized. Procedures for the detained suspects continue,” it said further.

ISIL militants have carried out gun and bomb attacks in Turkey. Many foreign fighters have passed through Turkey in recent years on their way to join the jihadist group in territory it controlled in Syria and Iraq.

A year ago, the group claimed responsibility for a New Year’s Day mass shooting by a lone gunman who killed 39 people in a packed Istanbul nightclub. The trial for those allegedly behind the attack began this month.

Source: Hurriyet