Turkish police arrest Syrian ISIS suicide bomber 'planning attack on US consulate'
TERROR police in Turkey have arrested an Islamic State militant suspected of plotting to blow himself up outside the US consulate in Istanbul.
Police guarding the US consulate in Istanbul
The terror suspect, who is thought to be a member of the extremist group ISIS, was described as of Syrian origin.
Police identified him as Muhammed Raghil Al Hardani, aged in his late 20s or early 30s.
He was detained "in the past few days" at a bus station in the city of Kahramanmaras, close to the border with Syria.
Authorities traced the man to Samsun, a city in northern Turkey, and he was detained at a bus station in Kahramanmaras on his way to Gaziantep province, which borders Syria.
Turkish security members stand outside the U. S. Consulate in Istanbul
Turkish security cars stationed outside the U. S. Consulate in Istanbul
The US embassy building in the Turkish capital Ankara also went into lockdown today, providing only "limited operations" because of an unspecified security alert.
Last week, the US consulate cancelled its services for a day amid concerns about a possible terror threat.
Turkey was rocked by two suicide bombings - blamed on a Turkish ISIS cell - near a town on the Syrian border in July and in Ankara in October. More than 130 people were killed in those attacks.