Turkey detains dozens of IS suspects planning attacks on Christmas and New Year celebrations

ISTANBUL (AP) — Istanbul police launched scores of simultaneous raids on Thursday, detaining over a hundred suspected members of the militant Islamic State group who were allegedly planning attacks against Christmas and New Year’s celebrations, authorities said.

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.