File image.
Turkey’s interior ministry on December 29 said that six terrorists from ISIS and three police officers were killed during a counterterrorism operation in the country’s northwest.
The operation targeted ISIS cells in the city Yalova, south of Ankara, and was carried out by Turkish security forces as part of ongoing counterterrorism efforts, Minister Ali Yerlikaya told reporters, adding that eight other police officers and one security guard were wounded in the clash.
The terrorist resisted when the police attempted to storm a house where they were hiding. Clashes spread into the streets and special forces were brought in from neighboring Bursa province.
Five schools in the area were closed for the day, according to Turkish media, which also reported that authorities cut off natural gas and electricity supplies as a precaution while civilians and vehicles were barred from entering the neighborhood.
Last week, police launched scores of simultaneous raids, detaining 115 suspected members of the group who were allegedly planning attacks targeting Christmas and New Year’s celebrations.
According to Yerlikaya, over the past month, 138 suspects were arrested in operations conducted against the ISIS terrorist organization, and 97 suspects were prosecuted.
ISIS has not been that active in Turkey for the last few years. However, multiple United States and United Kingdom travel advisories from recent months warned of heightened terrorism risks in the country, particularly near the Syrian border, due to terrorist groups active in Syria.
Since Islamist rebels backed by Ankara overthrew the regime of former President Bashar al-Assad in Syria last year, the country has remained unstable.
Syria’s new government, led by President Ahmed al-Sharaa, has pledged to work against ISIS and other terrorist groups. However, many elements of the government itself have known links to terrorist groups, including ISIS, and while all of them have changed their political position, their ideology remains the same.
The past year saw a surge in religious violence in Syria, along with the spread of radical ideology on a level not seen before, even at the height of the civil war.
Following the deadly clash in Yalova, Turkish activists shared footage from last year showing Islamists celebrating the fall of the Assad regime and waving Islamic flags affiliated with Syrian rebels and terrorist groups.
Syria-linked terrorists, from ISIS and other groups, have for long been present in Turkey. Such terrorists have engaged in recruitment, logistics, and potential attacks on Turkish soil, posing one of the biggest threats to Ankara’s national security.
The instability fueled by radicals in Syria is doomed to affect Turkey in the end. The recent counterterrorism operations show that terrorists in the country have been already emboldened enough to attempt to restage attacks.
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