Turkish police disrupt major al-Qaeda network

28/01/2008

Intelligence reports suggested terrorists were planning "sensational attacks" against various targets, including US and Israeli facilities.

By Ayhan Simsek for Southeast European Times -- 28/01/08

The 2003 al-Qaeda bombings in Istanbul killed 60 people. [Getty Images]

In one of the largest raids on an al-Qaeda-affiliated group in Turkey, four suspected militants and a policeman were killed during a 13-hour gunfight on Thursday (January 24th).

The group's regional leader, Mehmet Polat, was among the dead. He is believed to have assumed the leadership following the death of al-Qaeda militant Mehmet Yılmaz in clashes with US forces in the Iraqi city of Kirkuk last year.

Twenty-three other suspects were detained in simultaneous raids at 18 locations in the provinces of Gaziantep and Kahramanmaras. On Sunday, police said they have made six additional arrests, including three in Istanbul. One of those detained is a Chechen.

Turkish police said the terrorists planned to launch "sensational attacks" on strategic targets throughout the country. Police seized two Kalashnikov rifles, two machine guns, several handguns, ammunition, more than 100kg of bomb-making chemicals and various CDs and al-Qaeda documents, which security experts believe may reveal the group's domestic and international links.

In November 2003, al-Qaeda carried out attacks in Turkey against two synagogues, the British Consulate General, and HSBC bank. At least 60 people were killed in the bombings.

In a tape released late last year, al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden directed his latest threats at European countries, particularly those that have co-operated with the United States.

Police said that the majority of the detained militants were working as merchants in Gaziantep's local market and had been closely monitored by intelligence officials following suspicious travels to Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan in the last couple of years.

According to security analysts, the province of Gaziantep was a "pilot region" for the Turkish Islamist militant group Hizbullah, which has killed scores of people, including Turkish pro-secular academics, journalists and Kurdish separatists.

Due to its campaign of violence, Hizbullah lost its already narrow support base in the region, and its followers have recently focused on providing relief and propaganda activities through establishing various NGOs in the region.

Following some major operations by anti-terror police, leading members of the group fled to Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan, and experts believe they later joined al-Qaeda.

Earlier this month, Turkish police detained more than 40 members of Hizbullah, which is not believed to be linked to the Iran-backed Hezbollah movement in Lebanon.