Persecution of Christians by ISIL

The so-called high-rank commander and the provincial communications head of ISIL have been arrested in the Central Anatolian province of Kırşehir, İhlas News Agency has reported.

"The two ISIL suspects were detained in a simultaneous operation held by the security forces in the province," the agency reported on Oct. 29.

Nine ISIL members, who were identified as seeking action in Türkiye, were arrested in an operation organized in Syria's al-Bab region with the coordination of the southeastern province of Gaziantep gendarmerie, the Interior Ministry has announced.

Police have busted some houses that ISIL terrorists had converted into so-called "sharia education centers" in the capital Ankara within the scope of simultaneous operations and detained some 17 terrorists.

During the operations, the provincial counterterrorism team seized piles of digital materials and banned publications with propaganda content.

Anti-terror security teams have detained some 33 suspects linked to ISIL in separate operations held in Istanbul, the capital Ankara and the southeastern province of Şanlıurfa.

Late on Aug. 2, the gendarmerie raided three neighborhoods of Şanlıurfa and detained some three people, alleged to supply ammunition and weaponry to the terror organization.

An ancient lake-side fortress once used by ISIL to launch attacks is slowly regaining its status as a key cultural destination, attracting visitors from across war-torn Syria.

Families posed for pictures under the hot June sun, some perched on an ancient brick wall overlooking the banks of Lake Assad, a man-made reservoir in northern Syria's Raqa province.

Kosovo-born New Yorker Mirsad Kandic, 40, faces up to life imprisonment for becoming an ISIS fighter, recruiting other ISIS fighters, and providing weapons, equipment, and battlefield intelligence to ISIS, the US Justice Department announced on Wednesday.

An inscription reading 'Islamic State, State of Raqqa, Islamic Services Commission, Unified Taxation Office' painted on a wall of a destroyed building in Raqqa, Syria. Photo: EPA-EFE/AHMED MARDNLI

A U.S. special forces raid in northwestern Syria early on Feb. 3 killed the top leader of the ISIL, Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi, President Joe Biden said.

Security forces have detained more than 30 people, including foreign nationals, in Istanbul and Ankara for their links to the terror group ISIL.

In Istanbul, anti-terror units launched simultaneous raids on 11 homes in four districts and rounded up 11 suspects, all foreign nationals, for their alleged links to ISIL.

YPG militants in charge of jails in northeast Syria housing about 10,000 men with alleged links to ISIL are releasing prisoners in exchange for money under a "reconciliation" scheme, the Guardian reported on Nov. 22.