Turkish police arrest 11 Daesh suspects in Istanbul operations

Turkish police captured 11 suspected Daesh members in simultaneous raids across Istanbul on Thursday, authorities said.

Counterterrorism and intelligence teams raided several locations in the city in the early hours of Thursday to capture the suspects, who authorities said were involved in Daesh propaganda on social media.

Türkiye declared Daesh a terrorist group in 2013 and has suffered several attacks linked to the group, including a suicide bombing at an Ankara train station in 2015 that killed 100 people and a nightclub shooting in Istanbul on New Year's Eve 2017 that killed 39 people.

The arrests come amid a nationwide sweep following an attack on April 7, 2026, when suspected Daesh members fired at police near the Israeli Consulate in Istanbul. One assailant was killed and two others were injured in the ensuing shootout, while two police officers were slightly injured. Although Daesh was not officially named as behind the attack, authorities launched a nationwide sweep against the group following the incident and detained dozens of suspects.

In December 2025, Daesh members killed three Turkish police officers during an operation targeting a house where suspects resided in the northwestern city of Yalova.