Suspected ISIS Militants Arrested in Turkey Over New Year’s Eve Attack Plot

The state-run Anadolu Agency, quoting an official from the chief prosecutor’s office, says police seized suicide vests armed with bombs.

Police arrested the men in the Mamak district in the outskirts of Ankara.

Belgian police have recently also made arrests linked to alleged New Year attack plots, though no direct link to IS has yet been confirmed.

In a separate incident on Tuesday night, gunmen killed one person after a shooting near a Unesco World Heritage site in the North Caucasus region of Dagestan in Russian Federation.

“The investigation is looking at this group of motorcyclists”, the source told AFP on condition of anonymity without saying whether those arrested were gang member.

The two suspects are due to appear in court on Thursday when a judge will determine whether to keep them in custody.

The second faced charges of planning and “participating in the activities of a terrorist group”, it said.

Officials said the pair, whose nationality was not disclosed, were planning to strike an area in the centre of the city that is expected to be packed with revellers on the night of December 31.

The would-be attackers had allegedly staked out possible targets during celebrations in the city, including two locations near bars and a shopping mall.

Kizilay square is a popular spot for revellers to ring in the New Year.