Seven Turkish police officers injured in clashes with ISIL fighters: report | ISIL/ISIS News

A shootout ensues after a police raid on a house in the northwestern province of Yalova, according to local media.

Seven Turkish police officers were injured in a shootout during an operation against suspected ISIL (ISIS) fighters, local media report.

TV channel TRT Haber reported that police had raided a house in the village of Elmalik, in Yalova province, south of Istanbul, when exchanges of fire took place on Sunday.

The police officers were not seriously injured, the channel reported. It was not immediately clear whether any suspects had been injured or arrested.

Special forces from the neighboring province of Bursa joined the operation to provide support, including implementing ongoing security measures in the region.

Residents and vehicles were not allowed to enter the area surrounding the targeted house, the channel said, while Yalova governorate also suspended classes at five nearby schools.

On Thursday, Turkish authorities said they had conducted searches at 124 sites and apprehended 115 ISIL suspects.

Police received reports that agents were “preparing attacks in Turkey against non-Muslims in particular” during the holiday period, the Istanbul Prosecutor General’s Office said.

The American army also carried out widespread strikes against ISIL in central and northeastern neighboring Syria earlier this month, hitting more than 70 targets. The strikes came a week after two American soldiers and an interpreter were killed in an attack in the Syrian city of Palmyra.

Turkey, which shares a border with Syria, has stepped up its efforts against ISIL in recent years. Turkish authorities say some ISIL members moved into the country in 2019 after the group’s defeat in the areas of Iraq and Syria it then controlled.

Previous raids in March captured nearly 300 suspected ISIL members in 47 provinces in two weeks.

Between 2013 and 2023, authorities arrested more than 19,000 people for suspected membership in the group, according to the Turkish presidency.