Turkish raid on alleged ISIS safe house leaves 3 police dead
by Lisa Hornung · UPIDec. 29 (UPI) -- Three Turkish police officers were killed in a raid on an alleged Islamic State safe house Monday, Turkey's interior minister said.
Six of the militants were also killed after gunfire broke out, and nine police officers were injured. All of the militants killed were Turkish.
"We will continue our fight against the killers with bloody hands who threaten the peace of our nation and the security of our state within our borders and beyond," President Recep Tayyip Erdogan wrote on X.
The early morning raid was in Elmalik in the Yalova province in northwestern Turkey. It was part of a crackdown on militants around the country, said Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya.
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Turkey has been ramping up its efforts against ISIS in the past month.
Last week, Police in Turkey detained 115 people suspected of planning terror attacks at Christmas and New Year's Day celebrations throughout the country.
The Istanbul Provincial Police Department carried out 124 raids targeting 137 suspected members of ISIS, officials said in a press release.
Yerlikaya said the deadly raid was one of more than 100 operations against ISIS on Monday in 15 provinces. Elmalik is about 62 miles south of Istanbul.
When police approached the house, the militants opened fire, Yerlikaya said. Security forces evacuated five women and six children from the house and blocked off the area. They cut off supplies of natural gas and electricity to the town.
Neighbors told Turkish broadcaster NTV that the home appeared to house a large family with women and children.
Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc wrote on X that prosecutors were investigating the case and that five suspects were captured.