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A statement from the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office
said police were tipped off that the extremist group had called
for action — particularly against non-Muslims — during the
celebrations.
The office had issued warrants for 137 suspects, of whom 115
were detained. Officers also seized many firearms, cartridges
and documents during the raids. It said 124 locations were
raided.
The arrests come days after the Trump administration launched
widespread military strikes in neighboring Syria to “eliminate”
Islamic State fighters and weapons' sites in retaliation for an
ambush blamed on the group that killed two U.S. troops and an
American civilian interpreter.
Syrian security forces have also launched operations against IS
in recent days, including two raids on the outskirts of
Damascus, the Syrian capital. In those raids, Syrian officials
said Taha al-Zoubi, identified as the IS leader in the Damascus
area, was captured and Mohammed Shahadeh, a senior IS commander
in Syria, was killed.
Top Turkish officials visited Syria earlier this week to discuss
counterterrorism efforts against IS, among other issues.
At its peak in 2015, IS controlled a swath of territory across
Iraq and Syria half the size of the United Kingdom. It was
notorious for its brutality against religious minorities as well
as Muslims who do not follow the militants' extreme
interpretation of Islam.
After years of fighting, the U.S.-led coalition broke the
group’s last hold on territory in late 2019, but IS cells in
multiple countries continue to carry out periodic attacks.
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