Security forces detained 17 suspects, mostly foreigners, in an extensive operation to nab 20 wanted Daesh terrorists in Turkey’s southern Mersin province on Wednesday.
Some 300 police officers took part in the operation, dubbed “Claw-2,” which was launched at dawn, Anadolu Agency (AA) reported.
Ten of the detained suspects were identified as Syrian nationals, and four of them were identified as Iraqi nationals.
The police carried out simultaneous raids on 19 addresses and took security precautions on the entrances and exits of streets. They also confiscated some digital materials, as well as $30,000 found in the addresses, the report added.
The police are still looking for the remaining three suspects, the AA report said.
In 2013, Turkey became one of the first countries to declare Daesh a terrorist group. The country has since been attacked by the terrorist group multiple times, with over 300 people killed and hundreds more injured in at least 10 suicide bombings, seven bomb attacks and four armed assaults.
In response, Turkey launched counterterrorism operations within and abroad to prevent further attacks. In May, Ankara arrested a Daesh terrorist identified as the right-hand of former terrorist leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
