• As 23 die in Pakistan after eating poisoned sweets

Turkey has killed almost 900 alleged members of the Islamic State group since January through artillery fire and air raids in Syria, the state-run Anatolia news agency said Monday, citing military sources.

The country, a member of a US-led coalition fighting IS, has killed 492 “terrorists” since January 9 in air raids, while another 370 were killed in artillery strikes which also destroyed arms depots, the agency said.

The figures could not be independently verified.

Over 3,300 IS suspects have thus far been deported, Ibrahim Kalin, spokesman for the Turkish presidency, said on Monday, adding that the government has imposed an entry ban on nearly 41,000 foreign nationals.

“They are made up of people suspected of ties with the Daesh terrorist organisation,” he said, using an Arabic acronym for the IS group.

Turkey has in recent months cracked down on alleged IS sleeper cells throughout the country. Kalin said a total of 2,770 people had been detained — 1,232 of them were foreign nationals.

Out of the detained, 954 suspects were formally arrested pending trial, he added.

Turkey, which has been hit by attacks blamed on jihadists, including two deadly suicide bombings in Istanbul that targeted foreign tourists, began to carry out air strikes against the group in Syria last summer.

Ankara also allows US jets to use its air base in southern Turkey for air bombardments on the extremist group in Syria.

Turkey began its air strikes following a suicide bombing in July last year blamed on IS extremists, which killed 34 people in the border town of Suruc.

In recent weeks, the Turkish border town of Kilis has come under frequent attack from rockets fired across the border from Syria, prompting the army to respond to each strike with howitzer fire.

Kalin said Turkey had not yet received intelligence to ascertain if the border town was deliberately targeted by the IS group.

“There is a chaotic war on the Syrian side,” he said. “Some of (the rockets) might be landing (in Turkey) by mistake and some might be fired deliberately.”

In the meantime, at least 23 people have died and dozens of others fell ill in central Pakistan after eating sweets which police suspect were tainted with pesticides, officials said Monday.

Umar Hayat, a resident of the Karor Lal Esan area in Punjab province, bought the baked confectionery on April 17 to distribute among friends and family after the birth of his grandson.

But their celebrations turned out to be short-lived when ten people died on the same day.

“The death toll from consumption of the sweets has now risen to 23, and 52 people are still being treated at various hospitals,” local police official Munir Ahmed told AFP on Monday.

He said the dead included the baby boy’s father and seven of his uncles.

Rameez Bukhari, a senior police officer from the district, confirmed the incident, adding three people — two brothers who run the bakery and a worker — had been arrested.

The worker may have inadvertently added pesticide to the sweet mix.

“There was a pesticide shop close by which was being renovated, and the owner had left his pesticides at the bakery for safe keeping,” said Bukhari.

“A baker may have used a small packet in the sweet mixture,” he said, but added that police were awaiting for the results of laboratory testing.

Pakistan has poor food safety standards and hygiene laws are rarely implemented.

MSN