Nine Turkish soldiers allegedly involved in an assassination attempt on President Recep Tayyip Erdogan have been captured in southwestern Turkey, according to local officials.

Major Sukru Seymen, the commander of the fugitive soldiers, is among the arrested suspects who bombed the hotel the president was staying at on the night of the July 15 coup attempt, Mugla Governor Amir Cicek told Anadolu Agency Sunday night.

The operation to capture them was conducted in Sirinkoy village of Ula district by gendarmerie forcdes, who engaged the soldiers in a clash, an eyewitness told Anadolu Agency. There have been no reports of casualties.

A search is underway for two more soldiers, Governor Cicek said.

On July 15, Erdogan told the nation on live air amid an ongoing coup attempt that he narrowly escaped an attack. He said the hotel where he was staying while on vacation was bombed only fifteen minutes after he left.

More than 20 suspected members of the military squad involved in the attack — who are believed to have been ordered to capture or kill Erdogan — were previously remanded in custody to face trial.

Turkey survived a deadly failed putsch on July 15 by rogue elements within the military that killed 237 people and injured 2,191 others.

Citizens valiantly took to the streets on that night, upon a call by Erdogan, and became the biggest factor in ensuring the failure of the attempted overthrow of a democratically-elected government.

Turkey’s government has repeatedly said the coup attempt was organized by U.S.-based soi-disant preacher Fetullah Gulen and his Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO).

Gulen is accused of a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police, and judiciary, forming what is commonly known as the parallel state.

Source: Anadolu