Hundreds detained in Turkey over alleged school attack plots, threats

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Turkish authorities said Friday they have detained more than 400 people for allegedly planning or sharing threats to carry out school attacks with firearms, following two deadly incidents earlier this week.

“A total of 411 individuals who made misleading posts, issued threats and calls for action, and incited hatred and hostility among the public have been apprehended,” Turkey’s General Directorate of Security said in a statement cited by state-run Anadolu Agency.

On Wednesday, an eighth-grade student in the southeastern province of Kahramanmaras opened fire indiscriminately in two classrooms, killing 10 people and injuring 20.

A second attack took place Thursday in the southeastern province of Sanliurfa (Riha), leaving 16 people injured.

Authorities said the perpetrators in both incidents died by suicide shortly after carrying out the attacks.

The back-to-back shootings have shocked the country. In response, Turkish authorities have launched sweeping operations targeting individuals accused of posting or sharing inflammatory content online. Ankara has also blocked hundreds of online accounts and Telegram channels.

“Access to 1,866 URL addresses has been blocked as part of operations conducted following the school attacks in Sanliurfa and Kahramanmaras,” the security directorate said.

It detailed that efforts to "combat posts and activities containing provocative content, aimed at misleading the public and undermining public order, continue resolutely."

Following Tuesday’s attack, Sezai Temelli, a lawmaker from Turkey’s main pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party), told parliament that there are more than 32 million unlicensed firearms in the country, noting that this figure is “only the official estimate.”