10 held in counter-terrorism raids in western Turkey

Anti-terror police in İzmir have detained at least 10 people on suspicion of being members of the Patriotic Revolutionary Youth, or YDG-H, an affiliate of the PKK, the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party.

According to police sources, the anti-terror operation resulted from intelligence-led efforts by the Intelligence Division at the İzmir Police Department and the regional office of the National Intelligence Organization, or MIT.

The coordinated operation involved numerous police officers, who carried out simultaneous raids on 11 addresses in four districts -- Karabağlar, Gaziemir, Konak and Buca.

Teams using specialist equipment forced entry into properties and seized digital items, two unregistered guns and bullets, before rounding up the suspected terrorists.

Bomb-sniffing dogs were used in Saturday's operation, backed by riot police and special operation forces. A police helicopter was hovering over the area during the raids.

Detainees are accused of organizing illegal protests, destroying public properties and starting a blaze in a forest area. They are believed to have ties with the PKK's main base in Qandil in northern Iraq. It is claimed that the suspects have attacked police vehicles and office buildings, belonging to some political parties in the western city.

The PKK is listed by the US, Turkey and the EU as a terrorist group. It has claimed the lives of around 40,000 people during its bloody campaing to declare a Kurdish self-rule in southeast since 1984.

A ceasefire had been observed at the end of October 2012 but it was broken when the outlawed organisation resumed its attacks after a suicide bombing in Suruç town in July on the border with Syria.