Big blow to Daesh in February
Police officers escort a Daesh suspect to a courthouse in Bursa, March 4, 2019.


Turkey has dealt a big blow to the terrorist group Daesh as security forces "neutralized" at least 22 terror suspects and arrested 212 others, including senior figures, in nationwide operations in February.

The country continues its determined battle against Daesh, carrying out simultaneous operations in a number of Turkish provinces, including Istanbul and the capital Ankara.

Meanwhile, at least 15 out of 212 suspects were remanded in custody. Turkish forces caught four Daesh members in the southeastern province of Şanlıurfa, including a female suspect with a red notice against her name. In the northwestern province of Sakarya, six Iraqi suspects were remanded in custody for having links to the terror group. In the western province of Bursa, 52 Syrian suspects were caught in operations against Daesh. The forces also arrested 22 pro-Daesh suspects in an anti-terror operation in Istanbul.

Additionally, 39 Daesh suspects were arrested in counterterror operations held in the capital Ankara, the Black Sea province of Samsun, Şanlıurfa, the central province of Konya and the eastern province of Elazığ. In Bursa, a Syrian citizen, identified by the initials I.T., was arrested. The suspect was particularly active in Syria's Aleppo and Deir el-Zour provinces. Separately, four people, including two women wanted by Interpol, were arrested in counterterror operations in Bursa. Turkish intelligence and police sources said that these female terrorists were hiding in a house in Bursa. A Dutch citizen identified by the initials L.F. and Moroccan-Dutch suspect S.D., who have red and blue notices against their names, respectively, were remanded in custody.