ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Turkish police said on Sunday they had detained 27 people with links to the Islamic State militant group whom they suspect were preparing for an attack.
Police said they had learned that the people had been ordered to carry out an attack in retaliation for social media posts that insulted Prophet Muhammad. The operation targeted addresses in 15 districts of Istanbul, police said.
Islamic State has conducted numerous attacks across Turkey, including on a nightclub in Istanbul on Jan. 1, 2017 in which 39 people were killed, and a bombing in the city’s historic heart that killed 12 in 2016.
(Reporting by Ali Kucukgocmen; Editing by Angus MacSwan)
