4 senior Daesh/ISIS suspects held in Turkey

MERSIN/SANLIURFA, Turkey

At least four senior Daesh/ISIS terror suspects were arrested in southern and southeastern Turkey, security officials said on Wednesday.

One of the suspects, who was the so-called head of financial affairs of the terror group in Raqqa, Syria, was arrested in the southern Mersin province, the local gendarmerie command said in a statement.

He was nabbed in an operation at his place. A mobile phone and digital materials were also seized.

Separately, the National Intelligence Organization (MIT) and counter-terrorism police carried out a joint operation in southeastern Sanliurfa province and arrested three more senior Daesh terrorists involved in organizing illegal crossings from Syria to Turkey, a security official said.

The suspects, all of them Syrian nationals, were later remanded in custody by judicial authorities, said the official on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on speaking to the media.

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

It has since been attacked by the terror 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 anti-terror operations at home and abroad to prevent further attacks.

*Writing by Jeyhun Aliyev and Gozde Bayar from Ankara