"A breaking news story on the morning of December 29 last year caused nationwide horror in Turkey: An eight-hour gunfight ensued in the city of Yalova during a raid on a house where operatives from "Islamic State's" Khorasan Province, or ISKP, group were hiding. ISKP is an offshoot of the extremist "Islamic State" group, Three police officers were killed while eight others and a security guard were injured, some critically."
"According to the Turkish Interior Ministry, the officers had been following up on concrete leads that the extremist group was planning to carry out attacks on large New Year's Eve celebrations across the country. In view of the acute threat, the German Foreign Office also tightened its travel advice for Turkey and urged particular caution. Suspected terrorists were hiding out in this house in Yalova province. Image: Umit Bektas/REUTERS"
"The fact that the six suspected terrorists killed were not foreigners but Turkish citizens came as a surprise to the public. For a long time, the prevailing narrative in Turkey has been that these kinds of groups primarily used the country as a transit point for operations in central Asia or the Middle East. But in Yalova it turned out that the head of the cell and all the members were Turkish, with a large arsenal of weapons at their disposal."
On December 29, an eight-hour gunfight erupted in Yalova during a raid on a house sheltering operatives from Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP). Three police officers were killed and eight others plus a security guard were injured, some critically. Authorities said officers were acting on concrete leads that ISKP planned attacks on large New Year's Eve celebrations, prompting tightened travel advice from the German Foreign Office. The six suspected terrorists killed were Turkish citizens, surprising the public; the cell possessed a large arsenal. Two killed had prior convictions and had been paroled after seven months despite known radicalization. Case files show members branded noncompliant family as "sinners and enemies," and one reportedly tried to take his mother by force to IS territories.
Read at www.dw.com
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