ISTANBUL: Turkish police detained 110 suspects in an operation against Daesh on Tuesday, a day after three police officers and six militants were killed ​in a gunfight in northwest Turkiye, the Istanbul chief prosecutor’s office said.
Police conducted an eight-hour siege at a house in the town of Yalova, on the Sea of Marmara coast south of Istanbul, a week after more than 100 suspected Daesh members were detained in connection with alleged plans to carry out Christmas and ‌New Year ‌attacks. Eight police officers and another ‌security ⁠force ​member were wounded ‌in the raid on the property, which was one of more than 100 addresses targeted by authorities on Monday.
In Tuesday’s operation, police carried out raids on 114 addresses in Istanbul and two other provinces, arresting 110 of the total 115 suspects that they sought, the prosecutor’s statement ⁠said. It said various digital materials and documents were seized.
Turkiye has ‌stepped up operations against suspected Daesh militants ‍this year, as the ‍group returns to prominence globally. The US carried out a ‍strike against the militants in northwest Nigeria last week, while two gunmen who attacked a Hanukkah event at Sydney’s Bondi Beach this month appeared to be inspired by Daesh, Australian ​police have said. On December 19, the US military launched strikes against dozens of Daesh targets ⁠in Syria in retaliation for an attack on American personnel.
Almost a decade ago, the jihadist group was blamed for a series of attacks on civilian targets in Turkiye, including gun attacks on an Istanbul nightclub and the city’s main airport, killing dozens of people. Turkiye was a key transit point for foreign fighters, including those of Daesh, entering and leaving Syria during the war there.
Police have carried out regular operations against the group in subsequent ‌years and there have been few attacks since the wave of violence between 2015-2017.