Explosives, suicide vests seized on Turkey-Syria border

ANKARA

Security forces on Wednesday seized four suicide vests and explosives as they arrested a group of 34 people crossing into Turkey from Syria, a security source said.

The group, which included ten women and 20 children, was stopped near Oguzeli in Gaziantep province, the unnamed source said on condition of anonymity due to official restrictions on talking to the media.

Inside two bags, border guards found the vests and 12 to 15 kilograms (26 to 33 pounds) of an unidentified explosive.

Turkey shares a 900 kilometer (560 mile) border with Syria. Most of the territory across the border from Gaziantep and Kilis provinces is currently controlled by Daesh.

Turkey has been targeted by two major suicide bomb attacks linked to Daesh in the last six months -- the Ankara bombing in October that killed 103 and last month’s attack in Istanbul that killed 11 German tourists.