Police confiscate US consulate building plans in Istanbul

TEKIRDAG

Ecevit Şanlı, a member of the outlawed DHKP/C, blew himself up in front of the US Embassy in Ankara, killing a security guard and injuring a journalist on Feb. 1. AA photo

Security forces have confiscated explosives along with a series of building plans of the U.S. Consulate in Istanbul, a synagogue and a church, in a recent operation against al-Qaeda in several cities, Doğan news agency reported today.

Police departments of the Western province of Tekirdağ and Istanbul cooperated in an operation that detained 11 people and seized 25 kilograms of A-4 type plastic explosives, five rifles, five guns, several USB flash disks, CDS and remote-controlled explosive mechanisms.

Police sources confirmed that 11 suspects were captured and their questioning continues at the Tekirdağ police department. Seven people were taken into custody in the Çorlu district of Tekirdağ and four people in the Büyükçekmece district of Istanbul in simultaneous raids. The police seized building plans of the U.S. consulate in Istanbul as well as plans and pictures of a synagogue in Istanbul’s Balat neighborhood and a church in Istanbul, in the raided houses. The suspects received the explosives ten days ago and were planning an attack on the U.S. Consulate in Istanbul, Doğan news agency reported. On Feb. 1, a suicide attacker representing the outlawed Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party/Front (DHKP/C) targeted the U.S. Embassy in Ankara, killing one person and wounding a journalist.