Gunfight in Northwest Turkey Leaves Three Police Officers and Six Daesh Militants Dead

Photo File (X/@TurkPolisiTC)

Three Turkish police officers and six Daesh militants were killed during a prolonged gunfight in northwest Turkey on Monday, according to Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya. The clash occurred in the coastal town of Yalova, south of Istanbul, during a large-scale counterterrorism operation targeting suspected Daesh hideouts.

The interior minister stated that the operation was launched following intelligence that militants were hiding overnight inside a property in Yalova. Security forces raided the house in the early hours, triggering sporadic gunfire that continued for nearly eight hours. Eight police officers and one additional security personnel were wounded during the operation.

Authorities confirmed that the militants killed were Turkish nationals. During the raid, five women and six children were safely evacuated from the property. Roads leading to the area were sealed off, smoke was seen rising from the site, and a police helicopter remained airborne throughout the operation.

The Yalova incident came just one week after Turkish police detained 115 suspected Daesh members accused of planning attacks on Christmas and New Year celebrations across the country. On Monday morning alone, coordinated raids were carried out at 108 addresses in 15 provinces, highlighting the scale of Turkey’s intensified counterterrorism campaign.

Interior Minister Yerlikaya said that a total of 138 Daesh suspects had been arrested over the past month as part of nationwide operations. Turkish authorities have increased pressure on extremist networks amid renewed global activity linked to Daesh-inspired attacks.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, in a statement shared on social media platform X, expressed condolences to the families of the fallen officers. He vowed that Turkey’s fight against “those who threaten the peace of our people and the security of our state” would continue both domestically and beyond its borders.

Turkey was previously a major transit route for foreign fighters during the Syrian conflict and suffered a deadly wave of Daesh attacks between 2015 and 2017, including assaults on Istanbul’s airport and a popular nightclub. Since then, sustained security operations have significantly reduced militant activity, with Monday’s clash underscoring ongoing vigilance against the group.