Turkey arrests 15 suspected Islamic State militants

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Turkey arrests 15 suspected Islamic State militants

ISTANBUL: Turkish police arrested 15 people for allegedly being linked to the extremist Islamic State group, according to the country's official news agency late Saturday, following a day of security warnings by Western consulates.

Anadolu News Agency, sourcing an Istanbul police statement, said the group was arrested for allegedly planning attacks on the Swedish and Dutch Consulates in Istanbul as well as churches and synagogues. The police couldn't tell if there were any concrete threats against the locations.

The intelligence that led to the operation stated that the group may have received instructions from an affiliate of the Islamic State called Islamic State-Khorasan Province, which is active in South Asia and Central Asia.

Sweden and the Netherlands have been the subject of angry protests in Turkey after an anti-Muslim activist burned the Muslim holy book in Stockholm and a similar action took place in The Hague in the Netherlands.

A group of Western countries temporarily closed their consulates in Istanbul this week due to security concerns. Turkish government officials accused them of failing to share information on the security threat that led to the closures and aiming to cause harm to Turkey.

In November a bombing on Istanbul's bustling Istiklal Avenue, located in the heart of the city and near a number of foreign consulates, killed six people and wounded several others. The Turkish authorities blamed Kurdish militants for the attack, but they deny involvement.