ISTANBUL: More than 100 suspected members of the militant Islamic State (IS) group, who were allegedly planning attacks during Christmas and New Year celebrations, have been arrested in Turkiye, a prosecutor general said on Thursday.

The prosecutor’s office said arrest warrants were issued for 137 suspects, of whom 115 have so far been detained, following intelligence indicating that the IS terrorist organisation was planning attacks during the holiday period.

The operation launched after police received intelligence that ISIL members were “planning attacks in Turkiye against non-Muslims in particular”, during the holiday period, it added.

Officers seized firearms, ammunition and what officials described as organisational documents during the sweeps, Al Jazeera reported on Thursday.

Efforts are continuing to locate the remaining 22 suspects.

That sweep, coordinated between intelligence services, police and military forces, netted individuals involved in financing the group’s activities and spreading its propaganda.

The prosecutor’s office said those arrested were in contact with IS operatives outside Turkiye, underscoring the transnational nature of the threat.

Turkiye shares a 900-kilometre (559-mile) border with Syria, where militant groups are still active.

IS leader ‘killed’ in Syria

Also on Thursday, Syr­ian authorities claimed to have killed a senior IS leader in coordination with the US-led coalition, hours after the arrest near Damascus of another leader.

Syrian security and intelligence forces, working in coordination with the international coalition, conducted what the interior ministry described as a “precise security operation”.

“The operation resulted in neutralising the terrorist Mohammad Shahada, known as Abu Omar Shaddad, who is considered one of the prominent IS leaders in Syria,” it added.

“This operation comes as confirmation of the effectiveness of joint coordination between the national security agencies and international partners.”

Hours earlier, authorities said they captured Taha al-Zoubi, also known as Abu Omar Tabiya, an IS leader in Damascus, along with several of his men on Wednesday.

High-value arrest

Earlier this week, in a major operation along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, a Turkish national, who allegedly held a senior role within the IS group, was also captured.

The suspect was identified as Mehmet Goren, who reportedly served in the Islamic State Khorasan (IS-K) province, Anadolu Agency reported.

According to the report, Goren had been tasked with organising suicide attacks targeting civilians in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Turkiye and Europe.

The Turkish National Intelligence Organisation (MIT) said that Goren travelled from Turkiye to the Afghanistan-Pakistan region, where he operated in IS camps and rose through the ranks to a leadership position.

IS-K, the regional affiliate of the IS group, has claimed responsibility for some of the worst attacks in Afghanistan, Pakistan and beyond in recent years, many of them targeting civilians.

In March 2024, IS-K gunmen killed more than 140 people at a Moscow concert hall, and the group has carried out a series of deadly attacks in both Afghanistan and Pakistan since the Taliban returned to power in 2021.

Goren allegedly worked alongside Ozgur Altun, known by the code name “Abu Yasir al-Turki”, who was previously arrested, transferred to Turkiye and jailed for facilitating the movement of militants from Turkiye to the region.

Published in Dawn, December 26th, 2025