Turkey arrests 11 suspects over links to Daesh/ISIS

CANKIRI, Turkey

Some 11 suspects, including high-level targets, were arrested Friday in central Turkey over links to the Daesh/ISIS terror group, according to a security source.

As part of efforts against Daesh/ISIS, security teams conducted simultaneous operations at various addresses in the Cankiri province, said the source, who asked not to be named due to restrictions on speaking to the media.

An individual accused of being an aide to the terror group's late ringleader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi -- killed in a U.S. operation last weekend -- was among the suspects.

Under Baghdadi, Daesh took over wide areas of Iraq and Syria beginning in 2013, eventually claiming the formation of a "caliphate" in the region as it plotted and carried out gruesome attacks that reached far beyond its main territorial bastion.

Since recognizing Daesh/ISIS as a terrorist group in 2013, Turkey has been attacked by Daesh/ISIS terrorists numerous times, including 10 suicide bombings, seven bombings, and four armed attacks which killed 315 people, including police officers and soldiers, and injured hundreds.

In response to these attacks, Turkey launched anti-terror operations at home and abroad, neutralizing 3,500 Daesh/ISIS terrorists and arresting 5,500.

* Writing by Sena Guler