Turkish security forces detained five terrorist suspects attempting to illegally cross the border from Syria, the Defense Ministry said Thursday.
The suspects, including three members of Daesh and two members of the terrorist PKK's Syrian offshoot YPG, were caught while trying to enter Turkey from Syria, the ministry said on Twitter.
The suspects were held in Turkey's southern Hatay and southeastern Şanlıurfa provinces, it added.
Turkey was one of the first countries to declare Daesh a terrorist group in 2013.
The country has since been attacked by the group’s terrorists multiple times.
The terrorist group has carried out at least 10 suicide bombings, seven bomb attacks and four armed attacks, killing 315 people and injuring hundreds more.
In response, Turkey launched counterterrorism operations at home and abroad to prevent further attacks.
Turkish intelligence played a key role in the death of Daesh leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi by detaining and extraditing one of his aides to Iraq, who then provided United States authorities with critical information in locating him.
According to Interior Ministry figures, at least 2,000 people were arrested and 7,000 others deported in operations against Daesh in Turkey in the past few years, while around 70,000 people have been denied entry into the country over their suspected links to the terrorist group.
United States support for the YPG, under the name of the SDF, has long vexed Ankara. Turkey considers the YPG to be the Syrian offshoot of the PKK terrorist organization, which has waged a more than 30-year brutal war against the Turkish state.
Washington views the SDF as a "reliable partner" in its fight against Daesh and continues to provide it with arms and equipment in the face of strong objections by Turkey.
