What investigators called a
"highly dangerous" recruitment cell for Islamic State (ISIS)
militants was busted in Italy on Wednesday at the end of a
two-year probe.
Three people were arrested in Italy and Albania in an
operation to bust the cell of alleged Islamist extremists
dedicated to recruiting jihadists and helping them reach ISIS
militias.
The operation is the result of a two-year Brescia-based
investigation by Italian anti-terrorism police, said Mario Papa,
the head of the international anti-terrorism division of
preventative policing unit UCIGOS.
The suspects in Italy were arrested in the province of
Turin.
Police also conducted searches of properties linked to
people suspected of being ISIS sympathizers in the regions of
Lombardy, Piedmont and Tuscany.
"Today is an important day for the fight against
terrorism," said Brescia Prosecutor Tommaso Buonanno.
"It shows that investigators are paying attention to this
new situation, despite a scarcity of resources".
A 20-year-old Italian with Moroccan roots who is suspected
of being the author of a 64-page Italian-language document of
ISIS propaganda that recently appeared on the Internet is among
the people arrested.
The document, which was detected by the authorities on
February 28, presented propaganda detailing ISIS's version of
what it is doing in Syria and Iraq and how it supposedly
protects supporters and is ruthless with enemies.
The young man allegedly prepared the propaganda in
November.
Its significance is not so much the content, but the fact
that it targeted an Italian audience, according to
investigators.
It was published by a number of users on Facebook and
other websites, the sources said.
The two other people arrested are both Albanian nationals,
sources said - an uncle and nephew, one of whom lives in
Albania, while the other is a resident of the province of Turin.
The three people arrested were allegedly in contact via
telephone and Facebook with Anas El Abboubi, one of dozens of
ISIS foreign fighters linked to Italy.
El Abboubi is currently thought to be in Syria.
He was arrested in June 2013, but subsequently released by
a court. Before going to Syria he visited Albania
An Italian-Tunisian resident in the province of Como has
also been put under a special surveillance protocol as part of
Wednesday's operation and had his travel documents seized.
"This morning three people who were recruiting were
arrested thanks to the police and magistrates and for the first
time the special surveillance measure contained in the recent
anti-terrorism decree, which has not yet been ratified, was
applied," Interior Minister Angelino Alfano told State
broadcaster RAI.
"This means that the prevention system is working".
The father of the 20-year-old Italian, Elvis, said if his
son is indeed involved with the Islamic State terrorist group,
he will mete out fierce justice himself.
"My son is a good boy," said Idajet Elezi.
"But if he is a terrorist, I'll kill him myself".
"We're Muslims, and I ask Caritas (Catholic charity) for
help because my husband has been unemployed for five months,"
said Liliana Elezi, Elvis' mother.
"We feel nothing but gratitude towards Italy".
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