Turkey arrests nine IS suspects

Ankara, Nov 5: Nine suspected Islamic State (IS) militants were arrested in Turkey for allegedly plotting a suicide bomb attack against a political party in Istanbul, officials said.

The IS suspects were planning the suicide bombing against an unidentified political party’s offices in Istanbul, on the orders of senior IS members in Syria, the office of the governor of Gaziantep province said on Wednesday. Two suspects were arrested after a brief car chase in the city of Gaziantep last week and the other seven in subsequent raids.

Turkey has recently begun a wave of raids targeting IS, which it blames for several terrorist attacks, most recently a twin suicide blast that killed 102 people at a pro-Kurdish peace rally in the capital Ankara 10 October 10.

There is “strong evidence” that an IS cell in Gaziantep carried out a spate of bombings culminating in the Ankara blasts, Turkish prosecutors said last week. (IANS)