Turkish police thwart terrorist attack by Daesh in Istanbul


Turkish police caught a Daesh terrorist plotting a terrorist attack in Turkey in a counterterrorism operation in Istanbul, security sources said Wednesday.

Identified as S.M., the terrorist was caught by the Istanbul Security Directorate's Counterterrorism Branch in a raid on a house located in Sarıyer's Maslak district on the European side of Istanbul on March 17.

Documents belonging to the terror group were also seized by the police while the terrorist, identified as Turkish national, was issued an arrest warrant by a local court.

The Daesh terror group has targeted Turkey in a string of attacks in the past few years. The last large-scale Daesh attack was in Istanbul on Jan. 1, 2017 when a lone gunman killed 39 people at a nightclub during New Year's Eve celebrations. In 2015, Daesh suicide bombers killed 109 people attending a peace rally near Ankara's central train station.