Over 100 ISIL militants detained across Turkey

ISTANBUL

More than 100 suspected militants of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) were detained in operations across Turkey on Nov. 10, a day after police apprehended 220 suspected jihadists in the capital Ankara.

A total of 109 people, 93 of whom are of foreign origin, were detained in operations carried out in Istanbul, the southern province of Adana, the Black Sea province of Trabzon and the western province of İzmir.

Police officers have been conducting raids almost daily on ISIL cells across the country, with increasing intensity in the past few weeks.

According to Doğan News Agency, nearly 800 ISIL militants crossed into Turkey from Syria recently and the number of operations against jihadists increased in order to prevent any planned terror attacks.

Istanbul police raided 14 addresses in the Bağcılar, Beykoz, Fatih, Küçükçekmece, Pendik, Sancaktepe and Şişli districts simultaneously and detained 82 foreign-origin suspects.

Some of those detained are accused of having fought alongside ISIL in clash zones before crossing into Turkey and others were determined to have been planning to travel to Syria to join the jihadist group.

The number of detentions was seven in İzmir, 11 in Adana and nine in Trabzon on Nov. 10.

During the Trabzon operation, two guns were found with 159 rounds of ammunition.

Some 23 suspects have been detained in anti-ISIL operations carried out in İzmir since Oct. 28. While five of those detained were released, 11 were arrested, including a 17-year-old Syrian identified only by the initials M.S., who was allegedly involved in ISIL executions.

M.S. reportedly lost his right hand, was heavily wounded from his leg after a bomb exploded near him and used a “Bixi” type machine rifle among ISIL ranks.

He was allegedly planning to escape to Europe through Greece and from İzmir illegally after recovering, but was caught in a house belonging to Syrians in the Basmane neighborhood.

An investigation on whether M.S. was planning a terror attack in Europe is ongoing.

Another foreign-origin suspect was apprehended in the Central Anatolian province of Eskişehir as part of an investigation carried out by the Eskişehir Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office.

Anti-terror and special forces police raided a house in the city center and the interrogation of the suspect was ongoing.

Three more foreign-origin suspected jihadists were detained in the Black Sea province of Samsun. Iraqi-origin Shaalan Rajab N.N., Alaa Mohammed J.J. and Muhammed Jasem M.S. are accused of being ISIL executioners.

On Nov. 9, a total of 220 suspected jihadists were caught in Ankara in a series of raids conducted by 1,500 police officers to detain 245 sought people.

Meanwhile, the indictment into 11 ISIL militants was accepted in the northwestern province of Sakarya on Nov. 10. “Abu Hanzala” code-named Halis Bayancuk is among the 11 suspects under arrest and is facing aggravated life imprisonment.