Turkish authorities conducted widespread operations on Wednesday against alleged members of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), leading to the apprehension of 125 individuals in simultaneous raids across 25 provinces. Over the past week, the police have detained numerous ISIS suspects nationwide in efforts to thwart potential attacks during the festive period of Christmas and New Year’s.
A suspected ISIS group engaged in gunfire with the police during a raid in the northwestern province of Yalova on Monday. The exchange resulted in the deaths of six ISIS suspects and three police officers, with eight officers and a night guard sustaining injuries when security forces raided a house serving as a hideout. Authorities confirmed that all militants involved were Turkish citizens.
Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya announced that the coordinated operations on Wednesday were conducted by police and gendarmerie forces in various cities, including Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir, Bursa, and Yalova. Yerlikaya emphasized in a social media post that those attempting to disrupt unity and exploit faith will face the full force of the state and the solidarity of the nation.
ISIS has carried out several deadly attacks in Turkey, notably the shooting at an Istanbul nightclub on New Year’s Day in 2017, which claimed the lives of 39 individuals. Turkey has previously undertaken large-scale actions against suspected ISIS members, with the latest sweep occurring amidst a perceived global resurgence of ISIS activities, evidenced by recent incidents in Australia and assaults on U.S. forces in neighboring Syria.
The U.S. military reported on Tuesday that nearly 25 ISIS operatives were eliminated or captured in Syria this month following an ambush that resulted in the deaths of two U.S. troops and an American civilian interpreter. U.S. Central Command disclosed that eleven missions were executed over the past ten days, following initial strikes on ISIS targets in central Syria on December 19.
Syrian security forces also engaged in anti-ISIS operations recently, conducting two raids on the outskirts of Damascus. During these operations, Taha al-Zoubi, identified as the ISIS leader in the Damascus area, was apprehended, while Mohammed Shahadeh, a senior ISIS commander in Syria, was reported to have been killed.