Adana: Police detained four suspected Daesh terrorists who were planning to carry out revenge attacks in a counterterrorism operation in Turkey’s southern Adana province on Monday.
The operation targeted seven terrorist suspects who were preparing to carry out attacks over the arrest of Daesh’s so-called “Turkey emir” Mahmut Özden.
Police squads raided the homes of the suspects at dawn and confiscated digital materials and blank cartridges.
Security forces are still on the lookout for three other suspects. Turkish police detained Özden, the top Daesh figure in Turkey, during counterterrorism operations carried out in southern Adana province.
Turkey recognized Daesh as a terrorist group in 2013 and since then, the country has been attacked numerous times, including 10 suicide bombings, seven bombings and four armed assaults, which have killed 315 people and injured hundreds more. In response, Turkey launched military and police operations both inside and outside the country, capturing top Daesh members in counterterrorism efforts at home and in Syria.
Turkish intelligence played a key role in the death of Daesh leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi by detaining and extraditing one of his aides to Iraq, who provided U.S. authorities with critical information for locating him.
According to Interior Ministry figures, at least 2,000 people were arrested and 7,000 others deported in operations against Daesh in Turkey in the past few years, while around 70,000 people have been denied entry into the country over their suspected links to the terrorist group. – PNP
