Turkey Arrests 198 in IS Sweep After Consulate Attack

Turkish authorities arrested nearly 200 suspects in a nationwide operation against the Islamic State group, one day after three gunmen engaged police in a prolonged shootout outside the Israeli consulate in Istanbul, officials said Wednesday.

The incident unfolded Tuesday around midday in the city's Levent business district, where the consulate occupies a floor in a high-rise tower. The attackers, who arrived in a rented vehicle from Izmit about 80 kilometers east of Istanbul, approached a police checkpoint and opened fire with automatic rifles and handguns. The exchange lasted at least 10 minutes, with officers returning fire from behind vehicles and buses. One assailant, identified as a 32-year-old man with ties to the Islamic State, was killed at the scene. His two companions, brothers with prior links to drug trafficking, were wounded and captured. Two police officers sustained minor injuries, one to the leg and the other to the ear.

No Israeli diplomats were present, as the mission has been closed and staff evacuated since the October 7, 2023, Hamas attacks on Israel that ignited the Gaza war. Turkish-Israeli relations have remained strained amid Ankara's criticism of...