Turkish police storm building in Hatay over ‘terror’ tip-off
Although the police responded to local community information, the raid on the building came up empty; no clue was found revealing the residents' identities
Police have stormed a building early Saturday on suspicion that militants, linked to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, or ISIL,had taken up residence in Hatay province.
The police, backed by the gendarmerie, acted on a tip-off from the local community that suggested some ISIL militants were being accommodated in an apartment house in İskenderun.
The police raid in the town of İskenderun comes nearly a year after the MIT report that warned about the potential for terror attacks in three of Turkey's provinces: Hatay, Ankara and Istanbul.
Hatay police chief Cengiz Başar personally led the police raid, which was launched early Saturday at 1:00 am.
Police cordoned off the scene, forbidding entry and exit from the area during the operation which was also supported by a jamming device and an armored police vehicle.
Police searched the building under tight security, but did not find any trace, affiliated to the armed group.
The security forces in Hatay have been on alert for a year since the country’s spy service, MIT, released a report suggesting that ISIL-linked suicide bomb attacks in three provinces – Hatay, Ankara, Istanbul – aimed to damage efforts in the Geneva II, an international conference to be held to discuss the ongoing civilian war in Syria.
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