Ankara, Feb 23 () - A total of 1,220 Islamic State (IS) militants were caught on the Syrian border over the past 14 months, the Turkish General Staff has announced.   According to the information, a total of 259 IS militants have been caught on the Syrian border since the beginning of the year, including 178 militants caught in January and 81 caught between Feb. 1 and Feb. 21, thus increasing the total number of IS militants apprehended in the past 14 months to 1,220.   Of the 81 IS militants who were caught in February, 33 had attempted to cross into Turkey while the other 48 had tried to cross into Syria, the information revealed.   The number of apprehended IS militants in February has risen more than fivefold compared to last year’s figure, due to measures taken in terms of security systems across the border.   The information also added IS militants were largely caught in the area surrounding and within the Elbeyli district of the southeastern border town of Kilis.   Recently, Turkey detained a total of 29 IS suspects, including 14 children, in Elbeyli on Feb. 20.