ISIL suspect detained in Turkey’s east over Ankara bombing

BİTLİS

A suspect with alleged links to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) was detained on April 8 in the eastern province of Bitlis over his alleged involvement in the deadly Ankara bombing on Oct. 10, 2015.

Bitlis counter-terrorism police officers detained Mehmedin Baraç, who is known by the code name Ömer Hattap, in an operation early on April 8, marking the second such detainment in a week targeting ISIL suspects with alleged links to the deadly terror attack.

Baraç was later transferred to the Bitlis Prosecutor’s Office.

On April 7, an Ankara court ruled for the arrest of Hüseyin Tunç, another perpetrator in the attack who has links with the jihadist group.

Tunç was captured in an operation in the Şahinbey district of the southeastern province of Gaziantep on April 6. He was brought to the Turkish capital in connection with his alleged role in the Oct. 10, 2015 blast, upon the Ankara Public Prosecutor’s Office’s demand.

The deadly double blasts ahead of a peace rally in Ankara in the autumn of 2015 killed 103 people and wounded hundreds, marking one of the deadliest attacks in the country’s history.