Islamic State school 'operating in Turkish office block'

Ankara, March 3 (IANS/AKI) The Islamic State jihadist group has been using an office block in the Turkish capital to train young militants under the guise of a mosque, daily Hurriyet said Friday, citing prosecutors.

IS has been using the third, fourth and fifth floors of the building in Ankara's Ulucanlar district to train 22 children aged between 10 and 18, according to prosecutors.

The fifth floor of the office block was being used as a residence by a suspect identified as Mustafa S., while the fourth floor housed a 'female mosque' where the children were being trained, prosecutors said.

Police found banned Islamic extremist tracts, school reports and IS flags were at the block and in searches of the houses of suspects, Hurriyet quoted investigators as saying.

Prosecutors have indicted IS's alleged leader in Ankara, Ahmet D.,who uses the codename Abu Eslem, and 19 other suspects in the case, Hurryet said.

The prosecutors also said the group had been active at a number mosques in Ankara's Cubuk, Sincan and Altandag neighbourhoods.

Turkish authorities are investigating 35 suspected IS members over an alleged 'jihadist' school in Istanbul's Sultanbeyli district, local media reported in February.

--IANS/AKI

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