ISTANBUL, July 9 (Xinhua) -- Turkish prosecutors on Tuesday issued detention warrants against 211 soldiers across the country over their alleged links to a group accused of orchestrating a coup attempt in 2016.

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Police launched operations to catch 176 military personnel in active service upon the order of the Chief Public Prosecutor's Office in Istanbul, the NTV broadcaster said.

According to the state-run Anadolu Agency, the suspects were organized in cells within different branches of the Turkish armed forces and passed messages from the leadership to members.

In a separate investigation conducted by the Chief Public Prosecutor's Office in the western city of Izmir, prosecutors ordered the detention of a total of 35 suspects, including 20 soldiers in active service and 15 former soldiers, over their suspected ties to the coup attempt, the NTV said.

The Turkish government accuses the U.S.-based Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen and his network of being behind the coup bid in July 2016, in which 250 people were killed, and has been pushing for Gulen's extradition.