Turkey rounds up 52 Syrian Daesh suspects: state media

Turkey blames Daesh for the 2015 peace rally bombing that killed 100 individuals. (AFP/File)
Updated 14 February 2019
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Turkey rounds up 52 Syrian Daesh suspects: state media

  • Turkey believes Daesh are responsible for a number of terror attacks in Turkey
  • All the individuals arrested in the crackdown are Syrian nationals

ISTANBUL: Turkish authorities on Thursday detained 52 suspected Daesh extremists in northwestern province of Bursa as part of a crackdown on the militants, state-run Anadolu news agency reported.
Police launched raids at five addresses in the Osmangazi district to round up the suspects who were all Syrian nationals, Anadolu said.
Daesh are blamed in Turkey for a spate of terror attacks, including a 2015 bombing on a peace rally at a train station in the capital Ankara that claimed 100 lives.
Turkey has stepped up the fight against the extremists and allowed a US-led international coalition to launch air raids on the group's bases in Syria from its soil.


Iran missile barrage sparks explosions over Tel Aviv

Updated 56 min ago
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Iran missile barrage sparks explosions over Tel Aviv

  • Two near-simultaneous waves of explosions reverberating across the city
  • Israel’s emergency services confirms plenty of damage but said there were no casualties

TEL AVIV: The latest Iranian missile barrage sparked a wave of explosions across Tel Aviv as firefighters worked to contain a blaze at a residential building near Israel’s commercial hub on Friday.
The blasts came after Israel expanded its campaign against Hezbollah, vowing retribution against the Tehran-backed militant group for joining the conflict following the killing on Saturday of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Iran’s state broadcaster said Tehran had fired missiles “against targets in the heart of Tel Aviv,” after Israel’s military said it was working to intercept incoming Iranian fire late Thursday.
AFP journalists in Tel Aviv heard two near-simultaneous waves of explosions reverberating across the city.
Rocket trails also lit up the sky in Netanya, a city north of Tel Aviv on Israel’s Mediterranean coast.
After the barrage, Israel’s emergency services, the Magen David Adom (MDA), said its teams had visited several reported impact sites but that there were no casualties.
Israeli police said it was “currently handling scenes involving fallen projectiles in central Israel,” adding that there was “damage” but no injuries.
A projectile hit a building on the outskirts of Tel Aviv, forcing residents to evacuate.
At another residential site near Israel’s economic hub, firefighters worked to put out a blaze caused by falling debris after an Iranian rocket fire was intercepted.
Israel’s Home Front Command issues several rocket fire warnings early Friday for communities near the Lebanon border.