9 UK citizens headed to Syria arrested, Turkey military says

ISTANBUL (AP) — Turkey's military says that nine British citizens have been arrested trying to cross into Syria.

They were taken into custody in Hatay province, the military said in a statement Wednesday.

The group of three men, two women and four children, was seized by the military while trying to sneak across the border Wednesday, said a senior Turkish official, who wasn't authorized to speak publicly about the issue and spoke on condition of anonymity.

The nine are among a spate of recent cases of British citizens heading to Syria through Turkey, some successfully, some not. Last month, in two separate incidents, a 21-year-old woman and three British girls were detained after arriving in Turkey.

Three British schoolgirls traveled in February from the U.K. to Turkey, from where they are believed to have crossed into Syria.