Turkey detains 100 Daesh-linked suspects in nationwide operations

Security forces detained 100 Daesh-linked suspects, including foreign nationals in counterterror operations in Turkey's Ankara, Adana, Batman, Bursa, Samsun and Kayseri provinces Monday.

Six suspects, including four Syrian and two Iraqi nationals, were detained in dawn raids in the southern Adana province.

Batman police squads also carried out simultaneous dawn raids on the homes of the terrorists, detaining 22 suspects including the so-called provincial head of the terrorist organization.

Around 400 police officers participated in the raids.

Police confiscated digital materials, weapons and organizational documents discovered in the raids, Anadolu Agency reported.

In the central province of Kayseri, police detained nine Daesh-linked Iraqi nationals.

The suspects were transferred to the local police stations for testimony, reports said.

In northwestern Bursa province, police detained 16 suspects, including 13 Syrian nationals. One of the suspects has already been deported, AA reported.

Police in the capital Ankara detained 33 suspects in a joint operation conducted with the National Intelligence Organization (MİT). The suspects reportedly corresponded with terrorists in conflict regions. The detained suspects included a Morrocan national, two Syrian nationals and 30 Iraqi nationals. Police are seeking 17 other suspects as part of the operation.

In the northern Samsun province, counterterror squads detained 14 suspects in simultaneous operations in Canik, İlkadım and Atakum districts.

Turkey has deported more than 5,000 Daesh suspects and 3,290 foreign terrorists from 95 different countries in recent years while dismantling terror cells and safe houses providing logistical assistance to the terrorist group in Syria and Iraq or plotting attacks inside the country.

The country's efforts against Daesh made it a primary target for the terrorist group, which carried out numerous gun and bomb attacks targeting security forces and civilians, including the country's deadliest terror attack, which killed 102 people and wounded 400 others in a twin suicide bombing at a rally in capital Ankara, on Oct. 10, 2015.

As part of Turkey's Operation Peace Spring, launched on Oct. 9, the country has fought to clear northern Syria in the area east of the Euphrates River of terrorist elements, while also making sure Daesh prisoners there remain in detention.

Turkey has taken measures against foreign fighters since the beginning of the Syrian civil war in 2011. According to judicial sources, over 76,000 people have been banned entry to the country, and over 7,000 linked to terrorist groups or fugitives have been deported.

There are at least 1,174 Daesh terrorists in Turkish prisons, according to the Interior Ministry.