Turkiye arrests 125 ISIL suspects in new raids that mark widening crackdown

The cognition follows a bid of clashes and attacks linked to ISIL, which is feared to beryllium making a resurgence.

Turkiye’s authorities says it has detained much than 100 ISIL (ISIS) suspects successful nationwide raids, arsenic the radical shows signs of intensified determination enactment aft a play of comparative dormancy.

Turkiye’s Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya announced the Wednesday greeting arrests successful a societal media post, saying Turkish authorities rounded up 125 suspects crossed 25 provinces, including Ankara.

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The cognition is the 3rd of its benignant in little than a week during the vacation season, and follows a deadly shootout connected Tuesday betwixt Turkish constabulary and suspected ISIL members successful the northwestern metropolis of Yalova.

“Those who question to harm our brotherhood, our unity, our togetherness … volition lone look the mightiness of our authorities and the unity of our nation,” wrote Yerlikaya.

Tuesday’s clash killed 3 Turkish police and six suspected ISIL members, each Turkish nationals. A time later, Turkish information forces arrested 357 suspected ISIL members successful a coordinated crackdown.

‘Intensifying’ anti-ISIL operations

Al Jazeera’s Sinem Koseoglu, reporting from Istanbul earlier this week, said Turkish forces person “intensified their operations” against ISIL sleeper cells during the vacation period, a clip erstwhile the radical has antecedently staged attacks successful the country.

In 2017, erstwhile the radical inactive held ample swaths of neighbouring Syria and Iraq earlier being vanquished connected the battlefield, ISIL attacked an Istanbul nightclub during New Year’s celebrations, sidesplitting 39 people. Istanbul prosecutor’s bureau said Turkish constabulary had received quality that operatives were “planning attacks successful Turkiye against non-Muslims successful particular” this vacation season.

On apical of maintaining sleeper cells successful Turkiye, ISIL is inactive progressive successful Syria, with which Turkiye shares a 900-kilometre (560-mile) border, and has carried retired a spate of attacks determination since the ouster of erstwhile President Bashar al-Assad past year.

The United States subject has waged extended strikes against ISIL successful cardinal and northeastern Syria this month, killing oregon capturing astir 25 fighters from the radical implicit the past 2 weeks, according to the US Central Command.

Those operations followed the killing of 2 American soldiers and an interpreter successful an onslaught successful the Syrian metropolis of Palmyra by what the US said was an ISIL gunman.