ISTANBUL: Türkiye on Wednesday (Dec 31) detained one other 125 Islamic State group suspects in a string of nationwide raids, a minister stated, following warnings that IS militants deliberate assaults over the vacations.
Practically 600 individuals have now been detained in anti-IS raids over the previous week.
“We captured 125 Daesh suspects in simultaneous operations carried out in 25 provinces this morning,” Inside Minister Ali Yerlikaya wrote on X, utilizing the Arabic acronym for IS.
On Dec 25, safety forces arrested 115 IS suspects following an intelligence warning that the extremist group was “planning assaults throughout Christmas and New 12 months celebrations”, the Istanbul’s prosecutor’s workplace stated.
Throughout one other nationwide arrest operation on Monday, IS militants opened fireplace on police within the northwestern city of Yalova, killing three officers and wounding 9 others, the inside minister stated.
Six IS militants had been additionally killed within the hours-long gun battle within the city on the shores of the Sea of Marmara about 90km southeast of Istanbul.
A day later, one other 357 suspects with ties to IS had been arrested in 21 completely different provinces, the minister stated.
Forward of the New 12 months celebrations, the Istanbul governor’s workplace stated safety had been stepped up in Türkiye’s largest metropolis, the place greater than 50,000 police and different officers could be on obligation to make sure “a peaceable and secure begin to 2026”.
In depth safety measures had been in place at airports, buying malls, on public transport, and in squares and different leisure venues the place New 12 months celebrations had been happen, it stated in a press release.
TRAVEL WARNINGS
Forward of the festivities, Germany and Australia issued journey warnings for Türkiye, urging their nationals to train warning because of “the specter of terrorism”.
“The interval earlier than New 12 months’s Eve is a very symbolic time for terrorist assaults,” Germany’s international ministry stated.
“Train specific warning on the flip of the yr 2025/2026.”
Australia urged its nationals to “be alert to threats, particularly in crowded public settings” as a result of “there may be an elevated danger of terrorist assaults round massive gatherings, together with New 12 months celebrations.”
Türkiye’s anti-IS raids started simply days after its intelligence company captured a Turkish nationwide who holds a senior IS position in a raid on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, state information company Anadolu reported on Dec 22.
The suspect, Mehmet Goren, had allegedly been tasked with organising suicide assaults in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Türkiye and Europe.
Islamic State has staged a number of main assaults in Europe over the previous decade, together with one in Istanbul on New 12 months’s Eve.
Within the early hours of Jan 1, 2017, an IS gunman opened fireplace inside a nightclub on the banks of the Bosphorus, killing 39 individuals, principally foreigners.
The Uzbek gunman was captured and sentenced to 40 life jail sentences.
In his feedback, Yerlikaya warned anybody looking for to assault Türkiye, saying they’d “face the may of our state and the unity of our nation”.
