January 12, 2016•Update: January 13, 2016
ANKARA
Turkish police detained 16 suspected Daesh terrorists in Ankara province on Tuesday, police sources said.
A Turk and 15 Syrians were preparing a high-profile attack, according to police.
The arrests came as a Syrian suicide bomber linked to Daesh killed 10 people in an attack on Istanbul’s Sultanahmet tourist district.
The Turkish suspect, identified by police as the group’s leader, was seized in a cafe in Tunali Hilmi, a busy shopping street in the capital. Other arrests took place in Polatli, Cubuk and Sincan districts.
Police said the group had been reconnoitering public buildings as potential targets.
A court imprisoned the Turkish suspect and ordered the others to be deported.
Ankara was targeted in Turkey's deadliest terror attack in October when two suicide bombers killed 103 people. Last month, police arrested two alleged Daesh members preparing to carry out a New Year's Eve attack in the capital.
