Turkey's state-run news agency says police in the capital, Ankara, have detained 22 people suspected of links to the Islamic State group.

Anadolu Agency said the suspects — 17 Iraqis and five Syrians — were detained in simultaneous raids Monday as part of a security sweep ahead of Labor Day festivities.

The agency said the suspects had entered Turkey illegally and had reportedly acted on behalf of IS in Syria and Iraq. It did not elaborate.

Turkey was hit by a wave of attacks in 2015 and 2016 blamed on IS and Kurdish militants that killed around 300 people.

IS claimed responsibility for an attack at an Istanbul nightclub during New Year celebrations in the early hours of 2017. The attack killed 39 people, most of them foreigners.