Turkish police detain 18 al-Nusra suspects in central Anatolia

KONYA – Doğan News Agency

DHA photo

Turkish police have detained 18 militants suspected of recruiting jihadists for the al-Qaeda-linked al-Nusra in anti-terror operations in Turkey’s central Anatolian Konya province. 

Anti-terror police in Konya have launched simultaneous operations on 18 addresses linked to al-Nusra on Nov. 10, after technical and physical surveillance of suspects. 

Eighteen suspected militants were detained in the raids, including two women and an unidentified number of militants who crossed into Turkey after being injured fighting the war in Syria. 

Police have seized organization documents in raids while the suspects are accused of recruiting militants to fight in the ranks of al-Nusra.

Detained persons were brought to the anti-terror branch in the province after undergoing medical examinations at the Konya Research and Training Hospital.

Meanwhile, 20 people who were detained on Nov. 6 in an operation into the Islamic State and Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in the southern province of Antalya were released by a court on Nov. 10.

On Nov. 6, Antalya police detained 20 people, including two women, in Antalya as part of operations conducted ahead of the G-20 summit scheduled to take place in the city. The court ordered the deportation of a Russian citizen, the release of three suspects on probation and the release of the rest of the suspects.