Huge ISIS Christmas attack thwarted as 115 suspected terrorists arrested | World | News
One hundred and fifteen suspects ISIS Terrorism planners detained Türkiye. Authorities claim that members of the Islamic State are planning to target Christmas and New Year celebrations in the country.
In the statement made by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office, it was stated that the authorities received information that the extremist organization called for action against non-Muslims, especially during Christmas and New Year celebrations. In a post published on X, it was stated that the police raided 124 places in Istanbul and arrested 115 of the 137 suspects they were looking for. According to the prosecutor’s office, a gun and ammunition were also seized.
News of the arrest came after Türkiye’s state news agency Anadolu reported that Turkish intelligence agents had captured a senior member of the Islamic State group in an area along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.
The capture reportedly prevented planned suicide attacks in Türkiye and elsewhere.
Anadolu said the suspect was Mehmet Gören and was a member of the group’s Afghanistan-based Islamic State-Khorasan branch. He was captured in a secret operation and transferred to Türkiye.
It was not immediately clear when the operation took place or whether Afghan and Pakistani officials were involved.
The report claimed that the Turkish citizen rose through the ranks of the organization and was given the task of carrying out suicide attacks in Türkiye, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Europe.
ISIS has carried out deadly attacks in Türkiye, including a shooting attack on a nightclub in Istanbul on January 1, 2017, in which 39 people were killed.
Goren’s capture also allegedly revealed the group’s recruitment methods and provided intelligence on its planned activities.
Meanwhile, US efforts to thwart ISIS gained momentum after two US soldiers and an American translator were killed in an ambush last week.
Three US soldiers as well as Syrian security forces were injured in the attack near Palmyra. The gunman was killed.
The attacker joined the Syrian internal security forces as a base security officer two months ago and was reassigned due to suspicions that he might have ties to ISIS.
He raided a meeting where US and Syrian security officials were having lunch together and opened fire after a clash with Syrian guards.
On Friday, December 19, a US official said a “large-scale” strike hit 70 targets in central Syria containing ISIS infrastructure and weapons.
Another U.S. official, who discussed sensitive operations on condition of anonymity, said at the time that more attacks should be expected.
The strike came after the US President Donald Trump He vowed “very serious retaliation” after a shooting attack in the Syrian desert that he blamed on ISIS.
ISIS has not said it carried out the attack on US soldiers, but the group has since claimed responsibility for two attacks on Syrian security forces. In one of the attacks, four Syrian soldiers were killed in Idlib province.
