9 Daesh suspects remanded in custody in southern Turkey

ANTALYA, Turkey

A court in the southern province of Antalya on Thursday has remanded nine Daesh suspects in custody, a judicial source said.

The suspects have been charged with "being member[s] of an armed terrorist organization", according to the sources who spoke on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on talking to the media.

The suspects who were arrested earlier in Antalya included six foreign nationals from China and Pakistan, the sources added.

In a separate operation, police arrested a Syrian national in the northern province of Samsun for having alleged links to the Daesh terrorist group, police sources said.

Turkey has taken steps to crack down on Daesh since 2014 when the terror group launched a series of suicide bombings in Turkey.

Separately, Turkey has also been conducting Operation Euphrates Shield, which began late August 2016 to improve security and eliminate the terror threat from Daesh as well as other terrorist groups along Turkey’s border with Syria.