Over a dozen suspects held in Istanbul PKK raids

ISTANBUL

At least 13 people were taken into custody early Monday in Istanbul for allegedly being linked to the PKK and its young wing, police have said.

Teams from the Anti-Terror Branch Directorate were acting on intelligence that terrorist organizations would carry out petrol bomb attacks on shops and public buildings in the city.

Supported by special forces, police raided different locations in the districts of Sultangazi, Sancaktepe, Kucukcekmece and Gaziosmanpasa, seizing 211 petrol bombs and a number of documents.

Police later released a number of images showing hooded individuals detained during the operations, plus photographs of seized petrol bombs.

Turkey has been carrying out operations against the PKK – considered a terrorist group by Turkey, the EU and U.S. – inside and outside of Turkey since July 24.