In the early hours of Thursday morning, anti-terror police in Istanbul stormed houses and buildings in 12 districts across the city in a crackdown against the Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C), a designated terrorist group.

Nineteen suspects were detained in the operations while police have reported that shotguns, pistols and ammunition were discovered in the residences of suspects.

The DHKP-C, although less influential in Turkey than terrorist organizations like the PKK, still represents a considerable threat to the country's security, especially after a recent string of attacks.

The group was behind a suicide bombing that targeted the American Embassy in Ankara in 2013, leaving a Turkish security guard dead and it was also the culprit in the killing of a prosecutor in a courthouse complex in Istanbul back in March 2015.

Purportedly following a Marxist-Leninist ideology, the DHKP-C was founded in 1978 and was most active during the Cold War years. The group has revived its activities and attacks in recent years.

Last month, police arrested a senior militant of the terrorist group in the western city of İzmir.

The crackdown comes a few days after a Belgian court handed down a 15 year sentence to Fehriye Erdal, a militant tied to the terrorist group who was accused in 1996 of assassinating prominent business tycoon Özdemir Sabancı.