Turkey Detains More Than 50 over Alleged ISIS Links

Turkish authorities on Friday detained dozens of suspects over alleged links to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) during morning raids in two provinces, state news agency Anadolu reported.

In Ankara, 52 people were taken into custody after the capital’s chief prosecutor issued 64 arrest warrants as part of a probe into the ISIS jihadist group.

Raids continued to find the 12 other suspects.

Police discovered weapons including guns and ammunition at the homes of the suspects in Ankara, Anadolu reported.

And in the northern province of Samsun, 10 Iraqis were detained over suspected ISIS ties, the agency said.

Turkish authorities have conducted similar raids in the capital this year.

Just a few days before the general elections in June, 14 suspected ISIS members were detained accused of planning an attack on the polls.

Turkey was hit by a series of terror attacks in 2015 and 2016 attributed to ISIS and Kurdish militants. The last attack was in January 2017 when a gunman killed 39 people at an elite Istanbul nightclub during New Year celebrations.

The arrests come as Turkey has vowed to eliminate ISIS in Syria, threatening to launch an offensive soon against jihadists and a Syrian Kurdish militia in the wake of the U.S. announcement to withdraw all ground forces from the war-torn country.

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