Istanbul: Over 60 people on Thursday were arrested for their suspected links with the Islamic State (IS) group, during the counterterrorism operations across Turkey.
A police source said that anti-terror squads were formed and had conducted simultaneous operations at 12 locations in seven districts of Istanbul.
During the operations, the police apprehended 45 people of different nationalities, who were allegedly planning to carry out attacks across the country, Anadolu News Agency reported.
The police also seized a number of documents and digital tools from the suspects.
Also, ten suspects were caught in western Izmir province, during simultaneous operations in the city.
The arrests came after Izmir Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office issued arrest warrants for 11 suspects.
Elsewhere, security forces arrested two Syrian nationals in western Bursa province and three Syrian and two Iraqi nationals in southern Kahramanmaras province.
Turkey has been embroiled in a state of emergency since last year, as the dreaded terror organization has repeatedly targeted civilians in suicide bombs, rocket and gun attacks.
Turkish security forces have been involved in a long-running campaign to stop such attacks. (ANI)