All flights at Istanbul’s Ataturk international airport were suspended on June 28, 2016 after a suicide attack left at least 36 people dead. / AFP PHOTO /
ANKARA, Turkey (AFP) — Turkish security forces have killed two suspected members of the Islamic State group on the Syrian border, one of whom was believed to be planning a suicide attack in Turkey, news agencies reported Thursday.
The two men were shot dead on Saturday, days ahead of the triple suicide bombings at Istanbul’s Ataturk airport on Tuesday that left 42 people dead, the Anadolu and Dogan agencies said.
One of the suspects, named as Mohammad Arab, was planning an attack either in the Turkish capital Ankara or in the southern city of Adana, Dogan added.
Ankara was the scene of Turkey’s worst ever attack last October when 103 people were killed in suicide bombings blamed on IS.
Special forces also rounded up several IS suspects in Istanbul early on Thursday, Dogan said. No details were given about their identity.
The government has said Islamic State jihadists were likely behind the carnage at Istanbul airport, one of the busiest hubs in Europe.
Turkey has cracked down on IS after a string of deadly attacks blamed on the jihadists, who have seized swathes of land in Iraq and Syria, right up to the Turkish border.
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