Turkish police have reportedly detained approximately 400 members of Islamic State (Isis) in raids across the country on Sunday (5 February).

Those arrested include foreigners and alleged terrorists suspected of planning attacks, reported Turkish news agency Anadolu.

Raids have been carried out in the capital of Ankara, where 60 people were detained, in addition to 150 suspects detained in Sanliurfa in the southeast.

Dozens more have been detained in provinces ranging from Bursa in the west to Bingol in the east.

This is a breaking story. More to follow... </s> Turkish police have arrested around 400 suspected members of Islamic State.

The suspects were arrested in a series of raids across the country.

About 150 of them were detained near the border with Syria, and 60 in the capital Ankara.

Turkish news agencies are reporting a number of those arrested are suspected of planning attacks. </s> More than 400 suspects detained in nationwide operations, in Turkey's biggest roundup targeting the armed group.

Turkish police have detained hundreds of suspected ISIL members in nationwide raids, according to state media, in the biggest roundup to target the armed group in Turkey.

More than 400 suspects, most of them foreign nationals, were arrested during operations conducted in at least 18 provinces, Anadolu news agency reported on Sunday.

At least 60 people were held in the capital, Ankara, while 150 were arrested in Sanliurfa in the southeast and a further 47 in the nearby city of Gaziantep close to the Syrian border.

In the Aegean province of Izmir, security forces held at least nine suspected ISIL members who were allegedly preparing for an attack.

Another 18 people were arrested in Istanbul and the neighbouring province of Kocaeli on suspicion of planning attacks. Fourteen foreigners, including 10 children, were due to be deported.

The Turkish government holds ISIL, which stands for Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, and is also known as ISIS, responsible for several attacks in Turkey. 



Most recently, ISIL claimed responsibility for a New Year's Eve attack on the Reina nightclub in Istanbul in which 39 people were killed.

Police detained the suspected attacker, Abdulgadir Masharipov, an Uzbek national, on January 16 and authorities say he has confessed to the massacre.

Turkish troops are also engaged in battles against ISIL fighters in the Syrian town of al-Bab, in the fiercest fighting yet of Ankara's military's campaign inside Syria that started in August.

At least 48 Turkish soldiers have been killed in the incursion so far, according to an AFP news agency tally. </s> Turkish police have detained hundreds of suspected ISIL members in nationwide raids, according to state media, in the largest operations in the country to target the armed group.

About 820 suspects, most of them foreign nationals, were arrested in at least 29 provinces, including capital Ankara and southeastern provinces, state-run Anadolu news agency reported.

Operations took place on Sunday and Monday.

"This is the largest coordinated and simultaneous raids that Turkey has taken out on what it says are 'suspected members of ISIL' across the country," Al Jazeera's Stefanie Dekker, reporting from Gaziantep, said.

READ MORE: Turkey, US-coalition jets 'kill 47 ISIL fighters'

She added that the operation signalled Turkey's clear intentions to give a "message that it is clamping down" on the armed group.

"Turkey has suffered multiple attacks either claimed by ISIL or inspired by it," Dekker said.

The Turkish government holds ISIL, which stands for the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, and is also known as ISIS, responsible for several attacks in Turkey.

Most recently, ISIL claimed responsibility for a New Year's Eve attack on the Reina nightclub in Istanbul in which 39 people were killed.

Police arrested the suspected attacker, Abdulgadir Masharipov, an Uzbek national, on January 16 and authorities say he has confessed to the massacre.

Turkish troops are also engaged in battles against ISIL fighters in the Syrian town of al-Bab, in the fiercest fighting yet of Ankara's military's campaign inside Syria that started in August.

At least 48 Turkish soldiers have been killed in the incursion so far, according to an AFP news agency tally. </s> Police in Turkey on Sunday arrested at least 448 suspected Islamic State members in nationwide raids. The police operation is the biggest in the country since the attack on an Istanbul nightclub on January 1, in which 39 people were killed, AFP reported. The Islamic State group had said that they had carried out the attack to avenge deaths in Syria at the hands of Turkish military forces.

At least 150 Syrians were among those arrested, with several other people being picked up from regions bordering Syria. Sixty suspects, mostly foreigners, were arrested from four districts in Ankara. Dozens of other arrests were made in the eastern and western provinces of the country. Former Turkish diplomat Sinan Ulgen said the raids represented a change in strategy by the country’s police, who have till now only detained small numbers of suspected militants.

However, the arrests may not lead to any prosecutions, as the country’s efforts against the Islamic State “is still handicapped by discrepancies between the different arms of the Turkish state” Ulgen said, according to The New York Times. Former counterterrorism official Ahmet Yayla also questioned the effectiveness of the raid, saying that it could overwhelm the police’s operational capacity. “It is impossible to process that many terrorists in one operation,” Yayla said.

The attack on the Reina nightclub is the first such incident in Turkey that the Islamic State has claimed responsibility for, even though the group has been blamed for several bombings in 2016. The main suspect in the shooting was arrested on January 17. Abdulkadir Masharipov, an Uzbek national, was arrested from the Esenyurt district in Ankara. The Turkish police had detained 35 people in connection with the incident before arresting Masharipov. </s> Turkish police on Sunday detained hundreds of suspected members of the Islamic State extremist group in nationwide raids, just over a month after an attack on an Istanbul nightclub claimed by the jihadists. Among around 400 detained in the biggest operation so far against IS after the New Year attack were foreigners and those suspected of planning attacks in Turkey, the Dogan and Anadolu news agencies reported.

Start the conversation, or Read more at News Max. </s> Turkish police have detained 418 people in 29 provinces in an investigation targeting suspects with links to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militant group, the Interior Ministry said on Monday.

The ministry announcement on Twitter followed its earlier statement that the mayors of three major southeastern cities had been replaced by state officials in terrorism-related investigations.

The pro-Kurdish party mayors of Diyarbakir, Van and Mardin were replaced on Monday, and state governors were appointed in their place.

The mayors were accused of various crimes including membership of a terrorist organization and spreading terrorist group propaganda, Reuters said. </s> Turkish police have arrested 400 suspected members of the Islamic State terrorist organisation in several provinces, state media said, the biggest roundup to target the organisation in Turkey.

The state-run news agency, Anadolu, reported on Sunday that 150 of the suspects were arrested in the southern province of Sanliurfa on the border with Syria.

The report stated that 60 suspects were arrested in the capital Ankara, with majority of those arrested non-Turkish nationals.

Other raids were carried out in Istanbul, in the western city of Izmir, in the southern city of Adana and in Konya in the centre of the country.

The Turkish Government holds Islamic State responsible for several terrorist attacks in Turkey.

Most recently, Islamic State claimed responsibility for the New Year’s Eve attack on the Reina nightclub in Istanbul in which 39 people were killed.

The main suspect in that attack has been arrested and remained in police custody.

The Turkish army has been involved in the fight against Islamic State in neighbouring Syria since August 2016.

The Turkish Air Force launched a series of airstrikes around the city of al-Bab in northern Syria over the past 24 hours, Anadolu reported on Sunday.

The report claimed that 33 Islamic State fighters had been “neutralized,” the military term for killed, injured or arrested.

Earlier on Sunday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group reported that Islamic State had retaken control of the town of Bazaah near al-Bab the previous day following a counter-attack against Turkish-backed Syrian rebels that involved suicide attacks. </s> Turkish police walk in front of the Metropolitan Municipality headquarters in Diyarbakir, Turkey, August 19, 2019. REUTERS/Murad Sezer

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkish police have detained 418 people in 29 provinces in an investigation targeting suspects with links to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militant group, the Interior Ministry said on Monday.

The ministry announcement, made on Twitter, followed its earlier announcement that the mayors of three major southeastern cities had been replaced by state officials in terrorism-related investigations.
Turkish police arrest over 400 suspected ISIL members in raids across the country.