Police in Turkey arrest 20 foreign nationals on ISIS ties, state media reports

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Authorities in Turkey have detained 20 foreign nationals with suspected ties to the so-called Islamic State, pro-government media reported on Monday.

According to Turkey’s state-run Anadolu Agency, anti-terrorism police in Ankara arrested 20 people on charges of Islamic State membership.

The report did not provide details about the nationalities of the suspects.

The news comes following a US raid in the northwestern Syrian province of Idlib on Saturday night, where Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was killed.

“Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is dead,” US President Donald Trump said at the White House hours after the successful operation.

Read More: ISIS leader Baghdadi killed in US raid in Syria

Baghdadi had been mistakenly reported dead several times over the past years, but after biometric and DNA tests, his identity was confirmed.

In April, the Islamic State leader released a propaganda video calling on the group’s supporters to keep fighting.

Senior Kurdistan Region officials warned on Sunday that international governments need to remain vigilant in facing remnants of the Islamic State despite Baghdadi’s death.

Read More: Kurdish officials: Death of Baghdadi does not mean the end of ISIS

Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) leader Masoud Barzani said in a statement that the death is indeed a victory over terrorism, “however, it does not mean the end of terrorism.”

Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani expressed similar sentiments in another statement, saying, “The Kurdistan Region, as a crucial part of the international coalition against ISIS, finds the death of Baghdadi an important step in ending terrorism.”