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63 al-Qaeda militants apprehended (Turkey)
April, 2, 2008
A total of 45 al-Qaeda militants were taken into custody in simultaneous operations conducted in several districts across İstanbul yesterday following the apprehension of another group of 18 militants in an operation on Monday night.
The police had been pursuing the latter group, which was suspected of having links to al-Qaeda, for eight months after receiving permission to do so from the court. The police took action Monday night as soon as they discovered where the group was staying.
Approximately 300 security forces including police as well as special forces took part in the operations. The inspection of the suspects' computers also uncovered some of their plans and their encoded conversations with the terror organization's links abroad. The group is reportedly specialized in bomb making. The second group of militants, including six university students enrolled in law school, will be questioned by the police for four days.
Many suspected al-Qaeda militants were detained after a clash with police that killed four militants and a policeman in January when anti-terror police carried out simultaneous raids on many houses in the southeastern provinces of Gaziantep and Kahramanmaraş on intelligence that al-Qaeda militants were planning to stage bomb attacks across the country. Some of the suspects were incarcerated.
Turkish police have carried out a series of operations across the country and captured dozens of alleged al-Qaeda militants since homegrown suicide bombers linked to the terrorist group hit İstanbul in 2003, killing 58 people in attacks that targeted two synagogues, the British Consulate and a British bank. Last year, seven people were sentenced to life in prison for the bombings.
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