Turkish police have arrested 120 al-Qaeda suspects in a major nationwide anti-terror operation, reports say. The arrests were made in co-ordinated pre-dawn raids in 16 provinces, said the state-run Anatolia news agency. Those detained include an alleged militant recruiter who worked at a university in the eastern city of Van, Anatolia quoted police as saying. It added the raids came after police seized documents disclosing details of extremist militant activity in Turkey.
Friday morning's raids netted weapons, fake identity cards and camouflage clothing, unnamed police officials said, adding that those detained included suspected senior al-Qaeda members. The raids, which took place in cities including Ankara and Istanbul, came after 25 suspected al-Qaeda members were arrested in the country earlier this week.
According to this report: "Turkish media said one of those detained was believed to be the head of al Qaeda in Turkey, Serdar Elbasa, known by the codename Abu Zer."
| Betcha all of them had cell phones, and some had computers, too. Double betcha our clever lads and lasses get some of them to play with. Triple betcha there'll be more arrests in the next few weeks based on information from this lot. Well done, Turkish police! |