Militants of the Islamic State of the Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) planned to stage attacks on lawmakers and journalists in Turkey, a list found on two militants caught by the authorities in the southern border province of Kilis has revealed.
The militants, working as assassins for the jihadist group, were caught while trying to enter Turkey, daily Yeni Şafak reported on June 14.
ISIL reportedly activated its assassination branch after the police launched an operation in Kilis and ordered the two militants to go to Turkey from Syria in order to perform a number of assassinations. Along with the target list, two guns with silencers and documents were also found on the militants.
This was the first time that guns with silencers have been found on ISIL militants, according to the security forces.
The jihadists’ primary targets were lawmakers, whose identities and parties have not been revealed. They reportedly said in their first testimony that they were awaiting orders to start assassinations.
A number of prominent journalists were also reportedly on the list and the militants were researching where the targeted journalists were living.
Security forces suggested that ISIL may be moving onto a new strategy due to their cells being exposed and suicide bombers being caught.
Meanwhile, two dead bodies, located with drones and belonging to ISIL militants, were found near the Elbeyli district of Kilis and were taken to the forensic medicine institute in the southeastern province of Gaziantep for an autopsy, before being taken to the Kilis State Hospital’s morgue.
The ISIL militants, whose identities could not be determined, were reportedly killed in an airstrike by the U.S.-led coalition on June 11. The dead bodies ended up in Turkey’s Elbeyli after being swept along by the river into which they fell.
