Turkey detains 283 suspected IS militants

ANKARA, Turkey – Security officials say police have detained 283 suspected Islamic State group militants in Turkey in the past 11 days.

A security directorate statement released on Thursday also said police seized 66 improvised explosive devices during the anti-IS operations conducted in 25 provinces across Turkey.

The statement said that of the alleged IS militants caught, 96 are Turkish citizens while 187 others are foreign nationals. It didn’t provide information on their nationalities.

IS has been blamed for several deadly attacks in Turkey that killed more than 300 people since 2015.

Along with combatting the extremist group’s cells inside its borders, Turkey launched a military operation in northern Syria in August 2016 to clear a border zone of IS members after a deadly suicide attack targeted a wedding party.