Turkish authorities have arrested two suspected members of the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group who were trying to cross from Syria to Turkey, the Turkish defense ministry said on Sunday.
“Our border guards stationed in the Reyhanli and Narlica areas of the city of Hatay (south) arrested 16 people attempting to enter our territory illegally, including two members of the Islamic State terrorist organization and two from Hayat Tahrir al -Sham, ”
the ministry said on Twitter.
The jihadist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) is linked to al-Qaida and controls almost half of the province of Idleb (northwest) in Syria.
The nationality of those arrested was not communicated by the ministry.
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Dozens of jihadists expelled
In the years following the start of the conflict in Syria, in 2011, border Turkey was one of the main transit points for jihadists seeking to reach this warring country.
Since the fall of the self-proclaimed ISIS "caliphate" in March 2019, many have gone the other way and joined Turkey.
Long accused of "letting it go, pass it up", Ankara now regularly announces the arrest of suspected ISIS members who are in its territory.
Ankara has expelled since last year dozens of suspected jihadists, especially Europeans, to their countries of origin.
