15 detained in anti-radical terror op in Istanbul

ISTANBUL

A total of 15 foreign nationals have been detained in the operation against ISIL and al-Qaeda in Istanbul.

Istanbul police’s anti-terror unit determined 12 addresses in eight districts to arrest terror suspects.

A total of 15 suspects were taken into custody during the operations carried out simultaneously at the suspects’ homes early on April 12. The proceedings of the detained continue at the police stations.

In 2013, Türkiye became one of the first countries to declare ISIL a terrorist group.

The country has since been attacked by ISIL terrorists multiple times, with at least 10 suicide bombings, seven bomb attacks and four armed attacks, killing 315 people and injuring hundreds more.

Al-Qaeda is a Sunni pan-Islamist militant organization led by Salafi jihadists who self-identify as a vanguard spearheading a global Islamist revolution to unite the Muslim world under a supranational Islamic state known as the Caliphate.