Seven Turkish police officers wounded in clash with ISIL fighters: Report

According to local media reports, seven Turkish police officers were hurt in a shootout during a shootout involving alleged ISIL (ISIS) fighters.

When fire was exchanged at a home in the Yalova province’s Elmalik village on Sunday, according to broadcaster TRT Haber, police raided the residence.

According to the broadcaster, the officers weren’t seriously hurt. No one’s immediate fate foretold whether any suspects had been hurt or taken into custody.

Special forces from the nearby province of Bursa joined the operation to offer support, as well as implementing ongoing security measures.

The Yalova governorate suspended classes at five nearby schools, as well as locals and vehicles entering the neighborhood around the targeted home, according to the broadcaster.

Turkish authorities reported on Thursday that they had detained 115 ISIL suspects and conducted raids on 124 locations.

According to the Istanbul chief prosecutor’s office, police had learned that operatives were “planning attacks in Turkiye against non-Muslims in particular” during the holiday season.

More than 70 targets were hit by the US military’s extensive strikes against ISIL in neighboring central and northeastern Syria earlier this month. Two US soldiers and an interpreter were killed in an attack in Palmyra, Syria, a week prior to the strikes.

In recent years, Turkiye, which shares a border with Syria, has increased its combat of ISIL. After the group’s vanquishing in parts of Iraq and Syria it then controlled, some ISIL operatives fled to Turkey in 2019.

Nearly 300 suspected ISIL members had been apprehended in 47 provinces over the course of two weeks following previous raids in March.