15 Suspects Arrested for Sending Militants to Syria: Europe, North Africa
Local Editor
Fifteen suspects, including three women and teenagers, were arrested by police forces in Spain, Morocco and Germany for recruiting and sending militant fighters to Syria, as Spain's Interior Ministry said on Friday.
The government of Spain called it the "most important" cell to date that it has detached of those involved in sending militant fighters to Syria to fight against the Syrian government.
"The operation is still ongoing," Spain's Interior Ministry said in a statement.
Security forces arrested four of the suspects in Spain, including the head of the network; three in Morocco; seven in France, with four of them being men and three women, and of which some are teenagers; and one suspect in Germany.
In France, one of the women and her partner were suspected of setting up a fake loans system to finance sending youths to Syria.
The group is believed to have organized training somewhere in Paris and to have been in contact with French "facilitators," who arrange for potential fighters to be sent for combat in Syria.
Investigators believe that some of the group members also had links to the so-called "Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant" [ISIL] and want to know further about their relations with a man from Lyon, who is currently in Syria and sometimes referred to as the emir of French fighters there.
In Germany, the suspect was arrested for having undergone weapons training, fighting, and performing guard duty with the so-called "Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant" [ISIL].
The prime concern of security forces in Europe and North Africa is the threat that the militant fighters pose if they are to return home while still under the influence of the al-Qaeda to carry out terrorist attacks in the country.
Approximately 1,800 Spanish police and counter-terrorist security forces, in addition to the intelligence service, are now grappling with the threat of a new attack, the minister said.
Spain's Interior Minister Jorge Fernandez Diaz warned that extremism remains a threat on the eve of the 10th anniversary of an al-Qaeda terrorist organization bombing in Madrid in 2004.
Since the train bombings, 472 suspected extremists have been arrested in Spain.
Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team
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