Turkish authorities on Wednesday detained another 125 suspected ISIS militants in the latest nationwide raids in pursuit of the group.
The crackdown on suspected ISIS cells comes after widespread warnings by authorities of a possible New Year attack and global fears of a re-emergence of the extremist group.
Turkey has carried out a number of raids this week after three police officers were killed on Monday during an operation against the group in Yalova province. The clashes also left six ISIS members dead, all of them Turkish nationals.
A day later, security forces arrested more than 350 suspected militants in large-scale operations across the country. Some of the suspects were linked to the militants who opened fire on police in Yalova, while others were suspected of planning attacks around New Year’s Day, it said.
Several detainees are suspected of collecting money under the guise of charity and funnelling it to ISIS-linked networks in Syria, according to the prosecutor’s office.
In Ankara, police detained 17 suspects, including 11 foreign nationals, in raids, authorities said. Officers had found digital material linking them to ISIS fighters in conflict zones, they added.
Turkey has launched a series of operations against suspected ISIS cells in the past weeks, following reports that operatives were planning attacks on Christmas and New Year celebrations, authorities said.
ISIS has lost control of the land it used to rule in Syria and Iraq, both of which border Turkey. While the group has been largely defeated, it continues to operate on a small scale in parts of the Middle East, Asia and Africa.
“We will continue our fight against the bloodthirsty criminals who threaten the peace of our nation and the security of our state, both within and beyond our borders, in a resolute, multi-faced and uncompromising manner,” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday.
ISIS attacks have been rare in Turkey since an attack on an Istanbul nightclub on New Year’s Eve in 2017 that killed 39 people. Since then, Turkish authorities have stepped up raids around the end-of-year holidays.
The raids in Turkey come amid a wider global crackdown and fears of a possible resurgence by the group. Australian authorities also said an attack that killed 15 people in Sydney earlier this month was inspired by ISIS.
The US has stepped up anti-ISIS operations, carrying out strikes on targets in Syria and Nigeria after President Donald Trump vowed to retaliate for an attack that killed two US army soldiers in Palmyra. Syria has been co-operating with a US-led coalition against ISIS and reached an agreement last month when President Ahmad Al Shara visited the White House.
The US maintains a small troop presence in Syria but its support for the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), its long-standing ally in the fight against ISIS, remains a point of contention between Turkey and the US.
Turkey sees the SDF as the Syrian offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which is considered a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the US and the EU. The Kurdish-led SDF was supposed to integrate into Syrian state institutions by the end of the year.