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Police Kill 5 ISIS Militants in Central Turkey | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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People stand next to an armed vehicle of the police special forces outside a police station after an attack in Istanbul, Turkey, August 10, 2015. REUTERS/Huseyin Aldemir


Turkish police killed five ISIS militants in a raid on a house in the central city of Konya on Wednesday, the provincial governor’s office said.

Special forces police launched the operation at the house in the Meram district of the city at 5:15 a.m. because they believed the militant cell was planning an attack, the private Dogan news agency said.

It said there were suspicions that those killed may have been planning to target events being held this week to commemorate the first anniversary of an attempted military coup in Turkey on July 15.

“During the operation, the five terrorists were neutralized after they resisted armed force, and four security forces were lightly injured,” the Konya governor’s office said in a statement. 

The operation was launched as part of security measures to protect buildings along routes used by military vehicles and the raid on the house was launched in search of a wanted ISIS militant, the statement said.

Five Kalashnikov rifles, a pistol and ammunition were seized during the raid, it added. Work was continuing to identify those killed.

Police sealed off the area and approaching vehicles were searched after the clash, which occurred during raids conducted by the police on 10 different addresses in Konya, Dogan said.

ISIS militants have in the past carried out gun and bomb attacks in Turkey. Many foreign fighters have also passed through Turkey in recent years on their way to join the terrorist group in Syria and Iraq.

Ankara has detained more than 5,000 ISIS suspects and deported some 3,290 foreign militants from 95 different countries in recent years, according to Turkish officials.