In simultaneous raids carried out yesterday, police in Kocaeli and Istanbul have detained 15 suspected Daesh members.

The suspects captured in dawn raids are accused of recruiting militants for the terrorist group. Police found digital evidence linking them to the group and seized a rifle in the operations.

Daesh killed scores of people when the group started targeting Turkey in 2013 with attacks on rallies, Istanbul's main airport, a popular nightclub in the city and other venues.

Embattled by counterterrorism operations in Syria and Iraq, the terrorist group has seen its numbers further dwindling with heightened crackdowns in Turkey.

In the past nine months, security forces detained more than 5,400 suspects and arrested more than 900 others in operations, while another 146 Daesh militants were "neutralized" in the same period.