In the wake of the suicide bombing attack in Ankara by Islamic State militants that took dozens of lives Oct. 10, Turkish police have launched large-scale operations against the IS network in Turkey.

On Oct. 26, there were simultaneous raids in 17 different locations in Diyarbakir. Two of the targets were single-family houses on the intersections of 42nd and 53rd Streets and Dr. Sitki Gural Avenue, very close to the center of the city.

Unfortunately, these two raids did not go as well as the others and they became the scene of unprecedented clashes between the police and IS militants. According to the police, special operations staff and Al-Monitor's local sources in Diyarbakir, the raid that began as a routine arrest operation deteriorated into seven hours of bloody clashes.

Police teams isolated the area as usual and first moved against the house on 53rd Street. The inhabitants did not flee or surrender, as they usually do. First, one IS militant blew himself up by setting off the explosive vest he was wearing when the police were about to enter the house. The blast killed two SWAT team members, Sadik Ozkan and Gokhan Cakici, and wounded five other policemen.