ANKARA — A police operation against suspected Islamic State militants in northwest Turkey ended in a gun battle early on Monday, leaving three police officers and six militants dead, according to Turkey’s interior minister. At least eight other police officers and a night guard were wounded.
The shooting took place in the Elmali district of Yalova province, south of Istanbul, as officers raided a house where the militants were believed to be hiding. Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said special forces from the neighbouring province of Bursa were sent to reinforce the operation.
Yerlikaya described the Yalova raid as part of a wider nationwide campaign against Islamic State suspects. He said it was one of more than 100 simultaneous raids carried out in 15 provinces across Turkey.
The interior minister said the raid in Yalova had been conducted with “great care” because women and children were inside the building. He told reporters that five women and six children were safely evacuated before the operation was completed.
Officials said all six militants killed in the clash were Turkish nationals. Yerlikaya added that the operation began at around 2am local time and was officially completed at 9.40am.
The Yalova Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office opened an investigation into the incident, with the justice minister, Yilmaz Tunc, saying five prosecutors had been assigned to lead the probe. Tunc said five people had been taken into custody as part of the investigation, without giving further details about their identities or roles.
Localised security measures were introduced as the confrontation moved beyond the targeted house. Turkish broadcaster NTV reported earlier that five schools in the area had been closed for the day. It also said natural gas and electricity supplies were cut as a precaution, and that civilians and vehicles were temporarily barred from entering the neighbourhood.
The Yalova clash came days after Turkish authorities announced a large set of arrests in Istanbul in a separate investigation linked to potential holiday attacks. On 25 December, officials said police had detained 115 suspected Islamic State members during raids at 124 locations. According to prosecutors, arrest warrants had been issued for 137 suspects, and weapons and documents were seized.
In that earlier operation, authorities said the suspects were allegedly planning attacks aimed at Christmas and New Year celebrations, and that the group had called for action during the festive period. Turkish officials have not publicly detailed any specific targets connected to the suspected plots.
Islamic State has a record of attacks in Turkey over the past decade, including incidents that have drawn heightened security around public gatherings and holiday periods. One of the best-known was the New Year’s Day shooting at an Istanbul nightclub on 1 January 2017, which killed 39 people.
Turkey has continued to pursue Islamic State-linked suspects through domestic policing operations and intelligence work, while also coordinating with partners across the region on counter-network activity. In recent reporting, the Associated Press cited Turkish media accounts of a detained Islamic State figure accused of planning attacks in multiple countries, indicating that Turkish authorities view the organisation as a persistent security concern despite its loss of territorial control in Syria and Iraq.
