Turkey arrests suspected high-level Daesh targets

Suspected high-level Daesh targets were arrested on Friday in central Turkey, according to a security source.

As part of efforts against Daesh, security teams conducted simultaneous operations at various addresses in the Cankiri province, 11 suspects arrested including three women, TRT Haber reported.

One of the women was Daesh's late ringleader Abu Bakr al Baghdadi's chef who were together in Anbar region in Iraq, sources say.

Baghdadi killed in a US operation last weekend.

According to sources suspects were using a secret communication application to get in contact. Turkish cybersecurity units are investigating the suspects' messages.

In addition, two Russian women, who were wanted by Interpol red notice as Daesh members, along with three children near the Syrian border were also captured, after they attempted to illegally enter the country, Anadolu Agency reported.

Under Baghdadi, Daesh took over wide areas of Iraq and Syria beginning in 2013, eventually claiming the formation of a "caliphate" in the region as it plotted and carried out gruesome attacks that reached far beyond its main territorial bastion.    

Since recognising Daesh as a terrorist group in 2013, Turkey has been attacked by the terror outfit numerous times, including 10 suicide bombings, seven bombings and four armed attacks, which killed 315 people, including police officers and soldiers, and injured hundreds.   

In response to these attacks, Turkey launched anti-terror operations at home and abroad, which have resulted in 3,500 Daesh terrorists being killed and 5,500 being arrested.