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  Turkey kills 900 ISIS jihadists in Syria raids

Turkey kills 900 ISIS jihadists in Syria raids

AFP
Published : Apr 26, 2016, 6:32 am IST
Updated : Apr 26, 2016, 6:32 am IST

Turkey has killed almost 900 alleged members of the ISIS group since January through artillery fire and air raids, the state-run Anatolia news agency said on Monday, citing military sources.

Turkey has killed almost 900 alleged members of the ISIS group since January through artillery fire and air raids, the state-run Anatolia news agency said on Monday, citing military sources.

The country, a member of a US-led coalition fighting ISIS, has killed 492 “terrorists” since January 9 in air raids, while another 370 were killed in artillery strikes which also destroyed arms depots, the agency said.

The figures could not be independently verified.

Over 3,300 ISIS suspects have thus far been deported, Ibrahim Kalin, spokesperson for the Turkish presidency, said on Monday, adding that the government has imposed an entry ban on nearly 41,000 foreign nationals.

“They are made up of people suspected of ties with the Daesh terrorist organisation,” he said, using an Arabic acronym for the ISIS group.

Turkey has in recent months cracked down on alleged ISIS sleeper cells throughout the country. Mr Kalin said a total of 2,770 people had been detained — 1,232 of them were foreign nationals. Out of the detained, 954 suspects were formally arrested pending trial, he added.

Turkey, which has been hit by attacks blamed on jihadists, including two deadly suicide bombings in Istanbul that targeted foreign tourists, began to carry out airstrikes against the group in Syria in 2015.

Ankara also allows US jets to use its air base in southern Turkey to bomb the extremist group in Syria. Recently, the Turkish town of Kilis has come under frequent attack from rockets fired across the border from Syria.

Location: Turkey, Ankara