The Spanish police review platform reported on Friday the arrest in Mataro (Barcelona) and Austria of two jihadists of Moroccan origin returning from Syria who had undergone military training and acquired combat experience.
The two lads belonged to a terrorist organization (Al-Qaeda) not to name it. This operation, which is welcomed by the Spanish and Austrian police, would not have been so successful without the close collaboration of the Moroccan Directorate General for Territorial Surveillance (DGST). But not only.
The group fire so to speak also involved the FBI, the Austrian Security and Intelligence Agency (DSN), the German police authorities and EUROPOL, as well as assistance from the Spanish National Central Bureaus of INTERPOL and SIRENE, says the statement from the police and the Spanish Ministry of the Interior. It is also specified in the document that the two individuals took the so-called Balkan route which crosses Turkey, Bulgaria, Serbia, Hungary and Austria to enter Europe illegally and be apprehended there (Austria and Spain).
It’s a big blow from the anti-terrorist services of the Spanish National Police and its counterparts from Austria, Morocco and Germany, the FBI and Europol against the networks of foreign jihadist fighters (FTF) through this nice blow net that allowed the simultaneous arrest of two people during an operation coordinated by law enforcement agencies from several institutions and countries, including Morocco. A coordination that allowed the capture of two terrorists returning from Syria and in the Barcelona city of Mataró and in Austria (thanks to a European arrest warrant [OEDE] issued by the National High Court).
The investigation, the platform tells us, began at the beginning of the year when the Spanish agents, thanks to information from their counterparts, learned of the intention to return to Europe of the two Moroccans who had a link. One of them, until he went to the Middle East to wage jihad in 2014, lived on the peninsula, while the other, although he never lived in Spain, has a large part of his family who has been residing in the national territory for seven years. According to initial information, the two jihadists after being kicked out of Syria would have gone to Turkey where they have lived for the past few months while waiting to reach Europe illegally.
They took it badly, since one of the two was arrested in Austria thanks to data received by the Austrian National Police and the other was picked up under an OEDE issued by the National Court, only a few days after having joined Catalonia where he languishes in prison awaiting his trial. This is the first time that two FTFs (—Foreign Terrorist Fighters—) linked to Spain have been arrested after entering Europe in a coordinated and clandestine manner via the Balkan route.
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