At least 62 people have been arrested for their suspected links to Daesh during counter-terrorism operations across Turkey, a police source said on Thursday.
Anti-terror squads conducted simultaneous operations at 12 locations in seven districts of Istanbul apprehending 45 foreigners who were allegedly planning to carry out an attack, the source who spoke on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on talking to the media, said.
The suspects had reportedly been to conflict zones and fought for Daesh terrorists in Iraq and Syria and were identified as foreign nationals.
Some of them are also accused of recruiting terrorists for Daesh and will be deported following procedures.
Digital material and documents linked to the terrorists were also confiscated during the operations.
Separately, police rounded up 10 Daesh suspects in the western Izmir province during simultaneous operations in the city.
The arrests came after Izmir Chief Public Prosecutor's Office issued arrest warrants for 11 suspects.
Security forces arrested two Syrian nationals in western Bursa province and three Syrian and two Iraqi nationals in southern Kahramanmaraş province over suspected links to Daesh, said police sources requesting anonymity due to restriction on speaking to the media.
More than 300 people have lost their lives in Daesh-claimed attacks in Turkey so far, where the terror organization has targeted civilians in suicide bombs, rocket and gun attacks.
Turkish security forces have been involved in a long-running campaign to thwart Daesh attacks.
Since Daesh emerged as a terrorist group in war-torn Syria, Turkey has detained over 5,000 Daesh suspects and deported over 3,290 foreign terrorist fighters from 95 countries and refused more than 38,269 individuals' entry to Turkey.
According to Turkey's Justice Ministry, at least 780 people, including 350 foreigners, remain in detention — some of whom have been convicted — for suspected links to the Daesh terrorist group.
