Turkish troops captured two Turkish brothers, both members of the terrorist group Daesh, as they were trying to sneak into Turkey across the country's Syrian border yesterday.

The two suspects, identified with their initials as "F.F." and "F.F." were captured in Altınözü, a town in the province of Hatay on the border. Security sources said the suspects crossed into Syria in 2014 with their wives and children to join Daesh and sent their families back to Turkey last year while they stayed behind. They are imprisoned pending trial.

Daesh, which is blamed for a string of terror attacks in Turkey in the past three years, saw a decline in membership with militants fleeing Syria and Iraq where it once controlled large swathes of land. Turkey helped Syrian rebels in a 2016 operation in war-torn Syria to regain control of Daesh-controlled towns. Some 2,000 people were arrested and 7,000 others were deported in operations against Daesh in Turkey while around 70,000 people were denied entry to Turkey over their suspected links to the terrorist group. Security forces have also foiled 10 attack plots. Figures show that some 18,500 suspects are currently being monitored for links to the terrorist group after being identified at airports upon arrival.