17 detained in operation targeting ISIL in İstanbul

Turkish police on Saturday detained 17 suspects in İstanbul in an operation targeting the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), Turkish media reported.

The operation was conducted by police officers from the counterterrorism unit of the İstanbul Police Department on a number of locations in 11 districts that included Tuzla, Sultanbeyli, Küçükçekmece and Başakşehir.

The 17 detainees had reportedly come into the country by illegally crossing the border from Syria and Iraq.

Turkey declared ISIL a terrorist organization in 2013 and has been attacked by the jihadist group multiple times since then. A total of 315 people were killed and hundreds more were injured in at least 10 suicide bombings, seven bomb blasts, and four armed attacks organized by ISIL in the country.

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