Anti-terror raids across Turkey

Police arrested four Daesh suspects, including two women who were allegedly planning a terror attack in Istanbul Saturday, according to a police source.

On Friday night, Istanbul Police’s Counter Terrorism Branch launched an operation after a fire outbreak and explosions at two apartments in Istanbul’s Esenyurt and Arnavutkoy districts on the European side, the source said.

Authorities then began following the Daesh suspects after learning they were using a white car and then apprehended them from the mall's car park area on Saturday. 

The suspects were held in the car park area of Forum Istanbul shopping mall in Bayrampasa district, which is located in the European part of the city, the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on talking to the media, said.

The operation to capture the suspects began at around 1430GMT (4.30 pm local time) at the car park, the source added.

One of the suspects had been shot in the leg during the operation and was taken to a hospital, the source said.

A bomb squad later carried out two controlled explosions of devices found from the suspects' car.

Operations across country

Meanwhile, Turkey on Saturday arrested 49 suspects linked to Daesh in the capital Ankara, according to police officials.

Ankara chief public prosecutor's office had issued arrest warrants for 55 foreign nationals, as part of an investigation against the terrorist group, the official who spoke on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on talking to the media said. 

The police on Saturday arrested 49 of the 55 suspects during operation in Ankara.

Some of the suspects were planning an attack on the country’s Republic Day celebration on October 29, the official said.

Some of the suspects are also believed to have participated in armed conflicts abroad.

Five people suspected of having links to Daesh were also taken into custody in Turkey's western Izmir province.

In southern Turkey, five suspects with links to the terror group were detained in Sanliurfa province.