6 detained in Hatay, preparing terrorist attack on shelters for Syrians

Celalettin Lekesiz, Governor of southern Hatay province, said on Wednesday that security forces detained 6 people who were in preparation of staging a terrorist attack on shelters where Syrian citizens were staying in the city. Lekesiz told reporters that the efforts of Turkish security and intelligence were under way to capture the perpetrators of the the twin bombings in Hatay's Reyhanli town on May 11. Lekesiz reminded that 18 people had been taken under custody so far and 12 of them had been detained while 4 others were wanted within the scope of the ongoing investigation. Apart from Reyhanli incident, security forces and the gendarmerie launched a joint operation on May 21 on a group which was getting prepared to launch a bomb attack and kidnap Syrians staying in camps in Hatay, said Lekesiz, adding that during the operation, 6 suspects were detained. When asked whether the suspects were Syrian citizens or not, Lekesiz said they were Turkish citizens. Twin bombings which were staged in Reyhanli town of Hatay on May 11, killed 51 people. The blasts in Reyhanli town just across Syria's Idlib province have been the deadliest cross-border attack since the onset of the Syrian incidents in March, 2011.