5/3/2024 Türkiye (International Christian Concern) — Officials in Türkiye recently detained more than 100 suspected members of the Islamic State group operating within its borders, confiscating weapons and explosives.
Türkiye’s Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said one of the individuals arrested had allegedly planned an attack within the country. Yerlikaya said chemicals seized during a raid of the suspect’s apartment “were capable of causing large-scale explosions.
The crackdown on the Islamic extremist group’s activity comes on the heels of an ISIS attack on March 22 in Russia that left at least 144 people dead and hundreds more injured. On January 28, the Sunni extremist group attacked a Roman Catholic church in Istanbul, killing one worshiper. Turkish public broadcaster TRT reported that eight of the most recently detained suspects intended to detonate explosives during demonstrations that took place on May 1 in Istanbul.
During the past 10 months, Turkish authorities have reportedly detained more than 3,000 ISIS-related suspects in roughly 1,500 operations targeting the network in Türkiye. Officials have not yet clarified whether the 105 suspects detained last month were Turkish nationals or foreigners.
International Christian Concern (ICC) continues to help victims of the group’s atrocities throughout the Middle East.
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