Ankara, Jul 2 (IANS): Turkey has detained 13 Islamic State (IS) suspects in police raids in southern Mersin province, the state-run TRT broadcaster reported.

The police on Friday revealed that the suspects entered the country illegally, and some of them were allegedly responsible for money transfers on behalf of the group.

Upon examining a hard disk drive belonging to a suspect detained previously, the police found many photographs of the group's members, as well as images of conflicts, executions, and propaganda of the extremist group and extended the scope of the investigation.

An operation was carried out at the residence of 14 suspects on early Friday with the participation of 200 police officers. Thirteen of the suspects were detained, and the search continued for the remaining one person, Xinhua news agency reported.

The Turkish government designated the IS a terrorist organisation in 2013, blaming the group for a spate of deadly attacks in Turkey since 2015. The Turkish counter-terrorism forces have been conducting operations against the IS members in the country.

Turkey's southern border with Syria has been a major crossing point for Syrians and foreign fighters since the crisis started in the neighbouring country in 2011.