Turkish army captures eight ISIL militants on Syrian border

ANKARA

DHA photo

Eight militants of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), trying to enter into Turkey illegally from Syria, have been detained, the Turkish General Staff announced on Dec. 5.

“In Elbeyli [district] of Kilis [province], eight members of the  Deash [ISIL] terrorist organization (including three children) have been detained with their weapons and equipment (one AK-47 Kalashnikov rifle, 11 Kalashnikov rifle rounds, four grenades, 2,100 Syrian Liras, one laptop, two cellular phones) while trying to illegally cross the border,” the statement by the military read.

Turkey has stepped up counter-terrorism activities against ISIL after militants from the group were implicated in both the deadly Suruç bombing in July and the twin Ankara suicide blasts in October.

More than 2,500 ISIL members have been captured across the country over the past three years, with 837 of them from non-Turkish origin, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported.

Having added ISIL to the official list of terrorist organizations in 2013, Turkish security forces have since detained 2,627 suspected ISIL members in anti-terror operations.

Some 632 among the 2,627 detained individuals were subsequently arrested and 120 tons of bomb-making material was seized. More than 100 of the arrested suspects were foreign nationals.