Three Turkish cops killed by ISIS militants as authorities step up raids over winter holidays

[ad_1] Istanbul, Turkey —

ISIS militants opened fireplace on police throughout an in a single day raid in Turkey’s western Yalova province on Monday, killing three individuals and injuring eight others, based on authorities.

Turkish authorities mentioned six ISIS members had been killed and 5 different individuals had been detained within the operation which lasted greater than seven hours within the village of Elmalik, 62 miles (100 kilometers) from Istanbul .

The raid got here as legislation enforcement authorities stepped up raids forward of what they are saying are deliberate assaults in opposition to minorities throughout the winter holidays.

Social media movies of the operation confirmed a nighttime gunfight as police raided a suspected ISIS safehouse. Footage shot later confirmed smoke billowing from the realm of the raid and fireplace vans racing to the scene.

Inside Minister Ali Yerlikaya mentioned the raid was performed with “a substantial amount of care as a result of there have been girls and youngsters on the tackle.” The 5 girls and 6 kids on the tackle had been taken to security, he mentioned in his televised press briefing.

Electrical energy and pure gasoline to Elmalik had been lower throughout the raid, the Turkish state broadcaster reported. Faculties within the space had been canceled for the day.

Turkey routinely launches wide-ranging counterterrorism sweeps across the nation in opposition to ISIS in addition to different teams just like the Kurdistan Employees’ Get together (PKK) that it designates as terrorist organizations.

Authorities step up raids notably across the end-of-the-year holidays since a 2017 ISIS assault on the Reina nightclub throughout New Yr celebrations killed 39 individuals. The final ISIS assault in Turkey was in January 2024 when armed males attacked a church in Istanbul, killing one individual.

Turkish Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc mentioned an investigation into the raid has been launched and 5 state prosecutors have been assigned to the case.

Yerlikaya mentioned that over the previous month, 138 terror suspects had been detained and 97 had been positioned below judicial management measures.

Turkish safety forces have been finishing up coordinated raids throughout the nation over alleged plots linked to Christmas and New Yr’s Eve celebrations, based on a press release by the Istanbul Prosecutor’s Workplace on Thursday.

“Data was discovered that the ISIS armed terrorist group was planning to hold out actions concentrating on our nation, particularly non-Muslim people, throughout the scope of the upcoming Christmas and New Yr occasions,” the assertion mentioned.