Turkey: '65 Daesh suspects' detained in three provinces

ANKARA

Security forces detained 65 suspects in anti-terrorist raids carried out simultaneously across three Turkish provinces on Tuesday, Turkish security sources said.

The operations were carried out in Konya, Kocaeli and Istanbul provinces early morning targeting suspected Daesh members, the sources said.

In Konya, central Anatolian province, 30 suspects were detained; 14 others were detained in northwestern Kocaeli province, while 21 suspects were held in Istanbul’s Sultanbeyli, Pendik and Umraniye districts.

At least one suspect reportedly got injured while trying to run away from the police in Istanbul and was taken to a hospital. Another suspect fled and disappeared into nearby forestland.

The operations came a day after two policemen were martyred during a raid at a residential building in southeastern Diyarbakir province. Seven suspected Daesh members were also killed during the gun battle in Kayapinar district Monday, while 12 others were arrested.

Daesh is among terrorist organizations accused of killing 102 people in two back-to-back bombings at a peace rally in the Turkish capital of Ankara on Oct. 10.

There have been several arrests across Turkey since the July 20 Suruc suicide bombing that killed 32 people; most of the suspects detained since then have alleged links to the terrorist groups PKK, KCK, Daesh as well as the Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front. The suicide attack in Suruc was blamed on Daesh.