Turkey arrests 115 alleged IS members planning Christmas attacks

ISTANBUL: Turkish authorities have arrested 115 alleged Islamic State (IS) members suspected of planning attacks during the Christmas and New Year , Istanbul’s prosecutor general said on Thursday.

The prosecutor’s office said it had ordered the arrest of 137 people, of whom 115 have so far been detained, “following intelligence indicating that the IS terrorist organisation was planning attacks during end-of-year celebrations.”

Turkey shares a 900-kilometre border with Syria, where jihadist groups remain active. Earlier this month, a lone IS gunman in Palmyra, Syria, killed two US soldiers and an American civilian on December 13, prompting US retaliatory strikes against IS targets in the region.

In a separate operation, Turkey’s intelligence agency captured a Turkish national on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border who reportedly held a senior position in IS. Identified as Mehmet Goren, he has been accused of organising suicide attacks targeting civilians in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Turkey, and Europe.

Meanwhile, Syrian authorities said they killed a senior IS leader in coordination with the US-led coalition. The interior ministry described the operation as a “precise security operation” that neutralised Mohammad Shahada, also known as Abu Omar Shaddad, one of IS’s prominent leaders in Syria.

Hours earlier, another IS leader, Taha al-Zoubi, also known as Abu Omar Tabiya, along with several associates, was arrested near Damascus.

The recent operations underscore intensified coordination between national security agencies and international partners to counter IS threats in the region.