Turkey detains five bomber suspects near Syria border

ISTANBUL: Turkish police have detained five suspected would-be suicide bombers including three Syrian nationals in southern Hatay province near the border with Syria, local authorities said on Saturday.

Two of the suspects had been wearing suicide vests ready to explode, the local governor’s office said in a statement, adding that they were arrested before reaching the city centre. Authorities declined to say which group the five detained individuals claimed to belong to.

Long accused of turning a blind eye to Jihadist activity along its southern border, Turkey has joined the US-led coalition fighting the Islamic State group in Syria and beefed up its border security.

Turkey has been hit by a number of attacks in recent years blamed on IS and Kurdish militants.