SANLIURFA/OSMANIYE, Turkey

At least 42 people with suspected links to the Daesh/ISIS terror group were arrested in Turkey, security sources said on Thursday.

A total of 24 suspects were nabbed in operations by anti-terror teams in Sanliurfa, Diyarbakir, and Bursa provinces said the sources, who asked not to be named due to restrictions on speaking to the media.

The suspects recruited people for the terror group, tried to bring terrorists from conflict zones into Turkey, and conducted organizational meetings, the sources said.

A shotgun, ammunition, books, magazines, and digital materials were seized in the raids.

In the southern Osmaniye province, 18 more Daesh/ISIS suspects were arrested in operations by anti-terror teams, according to the sources.

The suspects were involved in terrorist propaganda operations and digital materials were seized in the raids, they added.

In 2013, Turkey became one of the first countries to declare Daesh/ISIS a terrorist group.

The country has since been attacked by Daesh/ISIS terrorists multiple times, with 315 people killed and hundreds more injured in at least 10 suicide bombings, seven bomb attacks, and four armed assaults.

In response, Turkey launched anti-terror operations at home and abroad to prevent further attacks.

*Writing by Gozde Bayar