Turkey detains 22 Islamic State suspects in nationwide raids

Turkish security forces detained 22 people suspected to have links to the Islamic State group in a number of simultaneous operations carried out across the country, Turkish state media has reported.

Turkish police arrested 11 suspects after Ankara prosecutors issued arrest warrants across nine provinces over allegedly providing assistance to the extremist group, according to Anadolu Agency.

Seven IS suspects who had illegally entered Turkey from Iraq were also detained in the southern province of Adana.

Four more IS suspects, all of whom were foreign nationals, were detained in central Kayseri province on suspicion of being active members of the militant organisation.

Turkey has been active in the capture of IS suspects both domestically and in neighbouring Iraq and Syria.

Three Iraqi security sources said on Tuesday that Turkish intelligence helped Iraq capture a senior IS leader who had been hiding out in northwestern Syria, in an operation that points to closer cooperation against remnants of the group.

Iraq announced on Monday that its security forces had captured Sami Jasim, an Iraqi national, in what it described as "a special operation outside the borders". It did not give details on when or where he was apprehended.

Jasim is one of the most senior IS leaders to be taken alive. He was a deputy to IS founder Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, killed during a US raid in 2019 in Syria's northwest, and a close aide to its current leader Abu Ibrahim al-Hashemi al-Quraishi, the Iraqi government said.