Turkey says 339 possible attacks foiled in 2016
In this photo released by the Lebanese Government, Lebanese Red Cross volunteers unload the coffin of a Lebanese victim who was killed in the Istanbul nightclub attack, at Rafik Hariri international airport, in Beirut, Lebanon, Monday Jan. 2, 2017. Credit: AP
Turkey's interior minister says authorities have thwarted a total of 339 possible attacks in 2016, most of them by Kurdish militants.
Suleyman Soylu told parliament Tuesday that the foiled attacks include 313 planned attempts by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, and 22 by the Islamic State group.
The minister said authorities seized 247 explosive devices, 23 car bombs and detained 23 would-be suicide bombers last year.
Speaking a day after the IS claimed responsibility for the deadly attack at a popular Istanbul nightclub, Soylu said some 80 of the attacks were thwarted in the past three months.
More than 3,506 IS suspects were detained in 2016, including 1,531 foreign nationals, the minister said.
Soylu said authorities had stepped up security on public transportation such as trams and buses as well as airports and at train and bus terminals.
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