Several dead in raids on suspected ISIL cell in Turkey

Seven suspected Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) fighters and two Turkish policemen have been in a shoot-out after officers raided several houses in the Kurdish-majority city of Diyarbakir.

Turkish police on Monday entered several houses in a district of the southeastern city which they suspected were being used by ISIL, when the suspects opened fire, one source said.

The police officers were killed after booby traps planted around one of the houses exploded, according to the Anatolia news agency. 

Heavy shooting during the dawn operation lasted for at least two hours, an AFP journalist at the scene said.

Police said they seized weapons, ammunition and organisational documents.

The deaths come just days before the country holds general elections on November 1.

Security forces are currently searching for suspects behind the October 10 Ankara suicide bombings that killed at least 102 people at a pro-Kurdish peace rally.

The authorities have declared ISIL is the number one suspect over the Ankara bombings, the deadliest attack in the history of modern Turkey.

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Turkey launched air strikes on ISIL targets in Syria and Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq in July after another deadly bombing, and later allowed the US to use its Incirlik airbase for air operations against ISIL.

A massive police hunt was under way at the weekend for a suspected ISIL cell that included a German woman allegedly plotting to carry out other attacks, Turkish media reported.

Anatolia said on Saturday that security forces feared cell of four people were preparing a major attack “such as hijacking a plane or a vessel or detonating suicide bombs in a crowded location”.