In a new wave of operations against the Daesh terrorist group, Turkish security forces detained 125 suspects in operations across 25 provinces, the Interior Ministry announced on Wednesday. Operations were held in provinces from Afyonkarahisar in the west to Iğdır in the east, Minister Ali Yerlikaya said in a social media post.
In Istanbul, security forces detained 29 suspects, including 28 engaged in social media propaganda for the group in the aftermath of the deadly attack in Yalova earlier this week.
The Chief Prosecutor’s Office in Istanbul said on Wednesday that the counterterrorism bureau of the office ordered counterterrorism police to carry out the operations as part of an investigation into the activities of Daesh. Operations were carried out in 29 locations. Officials said three pistols, munitions and digital propaganda material were found in possession of the suspects.
On Tuesday, police detained 357 Daesh suspects in a nationwide operation, after three police officers were killed as they attempted to capture Daesh members hiding in a house in the northwestern province of Yalova on Monday. Six terrorists were killed in the operation. Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya announced on Tuesday that operations were carried out in 21 provinces against terrorists. "Just as we have never allowed those who try to bring this country to its knees with terrorism, we will never give them an opportunity in the future either," he said on X.
The incident in Yalova followed another nationwide operation the previous week that netted more than 100 Daesh suspects, in connection with alleged plans to carry out Christmas and New Year attacks. The raid in Yalova was a continuation of those raids.
Türkiye has stepped up operations against Daesh this year, as the group returns to prominence globally.
The U.S. says it carried out a strike against the militants in northwest Nigeria recently, while two gunmen who attacked a Hanukkah event at Sydney's Bondi Beach this month appeared to be inspired by Daesh, Australian police have said. On Dec. 19, the U.S. military launched strikes against dozens of Daesh targets in Syria in retaliation for an attack on American personnel.
Almost a decade ago, the terrorist group was blamed for a series of attacks on civilian targets in Türkiye, including gun attacks on an Istanbul nightclub and the city's main airport, killing dozens of people. Police have carried out regular operations against the group in subsequent years and there have been few attacks since the wave of violence between 2015-2017.
