Police operation against al-Qaeda leaves 5 dead

Police raided 18 suspected al-Qaeda houses in Gaziantep's Nizip and Şehirkamil districts around 2 a.m. on Thursday, setting off a gun battle with those inside that killed one policeman and four militants. Sources said the clash erupted after police calls for the militants to surrender were met by gunfire. Seven police officers and a passerby were also wounded in the clash while 20 people linked to the radical Islamist group were detained during the raids.

Gaziantep Governor Süleyman Kamçı said simultaneous operations were launched against 18 suspected al-Qaeda positions early in the day and six handguns, one shot gun and ammunition were found. “We launched an operation upon a notification sent to the Gaziantep Police Department that read that the illegal al-Qaeda was preparing sensational attacks in our city. We have stepped up security measures in the operation zone. The operation lasted 11 hours. We detained 18 militants early in the day. Two female militants, who formerly refused to abandon the clash, then surrendered to security forces with three children and the number of militants held during the operation rose to 20. Several documents linked to the terrorist group were also seized during the raid,” he added.

Sources said a bearded man passing the operation area volunteered to serve as a mediator between the militants and the police force. “I want the clash to end. .... Let’s not shed blood. Send me to the houses where militants are hiding and I will hand them over to the police,” he was quoted as saying by reporters in the area. The man was later taken into custody. Gaziantep Police Department head Ali Yılmaz said police officer Ahmet Çandul, 35, lost his life in the clash. Çandul’s body will soon be sent to his hometown, Sakarya, noted Yılmaz. He added that police officers Hüseyin Çiftçi, Mehmet Ağca, Mehmet Ali Koca, Deniz Bayram, Hikmet İlgen, Ömer Doğan, Şaban Nergiz and Sadettin Özen, a passerby, were wounded in the clash. The injured were rushed to a nearby hospital.

Yılmaz identified the militants killed in the clash as Cebrail Kirazoğlu (32), Servet Sarıoğlu (33), Mehmet Polat (41) and Mehmet Zeki Polat (28). Sources said Sarıoğlu was trained in various al-Qaeda camps in Afghanistan for several years and returned to Gaziantep around three years ago. Gaziantep Provincial Gendarmerie Command head Col. Ali Tapan and Gaziantep Chief Public Prosecutor Kazım Arapoğlu went to the scene of the clash soon after the operation. Large explosions were heard as the clash continued. Security cordons were set up around the targeted areas, where several armored vehicles and five ambulances were stationed. Bomb disposal squads were also present.

Doctors from the Gaziantep Avukat Cengiz Gökçek State Hospital, where wounded police officers were taken under medical attention, said the injured were in good condition. “Ağca, who was shot in his belly, was operated on and his condition is not life-threatening. The conditions of the other injured are improving,” they said.