Turkish police have detained two suspected suicide bombers linked to Islamic State who were plotting a New Year’s Eveattack in Ankara, an official has said.
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The two Turkish nationals – identified by their initials MC and AY – were being questioned by anti-terrorism police on Wednesday.
The pair arrested reportedly entered Turkey from Syria and were planning two separate attacks on crowded areas, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported.
Turkey is on high alert after 103 people were killed in October when two suicide bombers ripped through a crowd of peace activists in Ankara, the worst attack in modern Turkey’s history. The prosecutor’s office said the attack was carried out by a local cell of the Islamic State group. The attack killed more than 100 people and was Turkey’s deadliest.
“Turkey is a target of terror because it is on the frontline in the fight against IS”, the Turkish official told AFP.
A few dozen protesters gathered on Wednesday to object to New Year festivities in Istanbul, where malls and shops feature animated Santa Claus figurines singing Christmas songs, illuminated Christmas trees and other holiday decorations that some Turks have embraced to celebrate New Year’s Eve. Four others are still being held by police.
European capitals have also beefed up security after the coordinated attacks in Paris which left 130 people dead and hundreds more wounded on November 13.
A previously scheduled New Year’s Eve fireworks show in Paris has been canceled; instead, there will be a five-minute video display at the Arc de Triomphe that, in Mayor Anne Hidalgo’s words, is aimed at “sending the world the message that Paris is standing, proud of its lifestyle and living together”.
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In Belgium, police arrested two people suspected of plotting attacks in Brussels during New Year festivities, the federal prosecutor’s office said earlier this week, adding that police had also seized military-style training uniforms, computer hardware and Islamic State propaganda material. The carnage from more-powerful, better-designed ball-bearing bombs ripping through a street packed with New Year’s Eve celebrants would be devastating. “That’s 500-plus officers… who are specialised in preventing terror”, he said.
