The extremist Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) has recruited some 450 new members in Ankara, something that reveals its reach even in the heart of Turkey, a country that suffered fatal casualties due to ISIL violence last year.

A recent report that appeared in the Habertürk daily revealed that ISIL has so far recruited 450 people from Ankara through a vast network that it has established in the capital of Turkey, a member of NATO. report todayzaman

More shocking than that is the information obtained by Habertürk from security sources which states that 100 of those 450 ISIL members are currently receiving training on explosives in the terrorist group’s self-declared capital of Raqqa.

Police are currently closely monitoring the militants, who are organized into eight groups under the names “Samanpazarı 1,” “Samanpazarı 2,” “Tatlıbal 1,” “Tatlıbal 2,” “Sincan,” “Gölbaşı,” “Gezenler” and “Finansçılar,” which correspond to the names of neighborhoods or districts.

Some members of the Ankara-based ISIL groups are currently fighting alongside the terrorist group’s ranks in Syria. Of those militants fighting in Syria, 150 have been in contact with their relatives in Ankara recently, according to the daily.

The scale of the recruitment efforts of ISIL inside Turkey has always been a source of controversy and debate, an issue that has created cracks and friction in Ankara’s relations with its NATO allies.