Turkish police fought a gun battle for more than 7 hours with IS rebels

Turkish police on the night of December 28 and early morning of December 29 launched a large-scale raid on the village of Elmalik, 100 km from Istanbul, part of a raid to prevent plots to attack ethnic minorities during the winter holiday.

As the officers entered a rebel “safe house”, Islamic State (IS) gunmen opened fire, killing three officers and wounding eight, sparking a gun battle that lasted seven hours.

Videos on social media showed gunshots echoing throughout the village at night, smoke rising from the raid area and fire trucks rushing to the scene. Turkish police said they killed 6 IS members and arrested 5 suspects.

Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said the raid was carried out with extreme caution because there were women and young children in the house. He added that five women and six children in the house have been moved to a safe place.

Electricity and gas supplies in Elmalik were cut off during the police operation. Schools in the area are also closed all day.

Türkiye regularly conducts large-scale anti-terrorism campaigns across the country targeting IS as well as armed groups considered terrorist organizations by the government.

Police have stepped up raids during the year-end holidays, since IS attacked Reina nightclub during the New Year celebration in 2017, killing 39 people. In January last year, IS gunmen attacked a church in Istanbul, killing one person.