Turkish intel foils ISIL attack on five EU cities, Ankara

Fevzi Kızılkoyun - ANKARA

AA photo

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) planned coordinated attacks on five EU cities and Ankara on New Year’s Eve, only to be foiled by Turkish intelligence, Turkish officials have said.

A senior leader of ISIL had planned the attacks on six cities, according to the police, which inspected seized computers after an operation in the Turkish capital. 

An Ankara court on Jan. 1 ordered the arrests of two Turkish men suspected of belonging to ISIL and planning a double suicide bombing in the capital on New Year’s Eve.

Musa Canöz, 28, and Adnan Yıldırım, 40, who were detained in a raid on Dec. 30, 2015, were placed under arrest on charges of “possessing explosive materials” and “membership in a terrorist organization.”

During searches in a cell house where the two stayed, security officials seized a computer through which they revealed that senior ISIL leader Abu Mohammed al-Adnani had instructed fighters to launch attacks in Austria, Belgium, Britain, France, Germany and Turkey. 

In line with his instructions, sent to the militants via email, 13 suicide bombers reportedly left the northern Syrian province of Raqqa.

Canöz and Yıldırım were the suspected militants designated with the task of carrying out the planned attack in Turkey. 

Police found photographs of many spots in Ankara, including the courthouse, police headquarters, a military school, mosques, malls and two popular squares, on the computers of the suspects. Canöz and Yıldırım took the photos and wrote down notes for each spot, the officials said. 

Sources told Hürriyet that German officials thanked their counterparts for warnings of an attack in Munich on New Year’s Eve that resulted in the closure of two large train stations.

Popular celebrations were canceled in Belgian capital of Brussels on Dec. 31, 2015.