Italian police announced that has destroyed two suspected jihadist groups through a major anti-terrorism operation that led to a number of arrests. Police raids took place in about 20 properties in northern Italy and Sardinia. The Interior Minister Marco Minniti welcomed the operations, stating that the two hostile structures have been neutralized.
Judges in northern Italy and Sardinia issued warrants for "Foreign Fighters" and "Syriana" operations. Officials said the two groups were based in Lombardy and Sardinia. Is believed they have links to Islamic militants in Syria, namely the Nusra Front linked to al-Qaeda.
Investigators said they believed the two groups acted autonomously, though an individual seemed to have links with both groups. At a press conference in Rome on Thursday, Italy's chief prosecutor for terrorism, Federico Cafiero de Raho, said that 14 persons are arrested in these operations, including 11 Syrians and three Moroccans.He said that four of them have been charged with allegations of terrorist organizations. Others are accused of plotting to fund terrorism, in addition to abusive financial intermediation for money laundering.
The arrested are immigrants with permit residence in Italy. Police added that were were able to track the clearance of about $ 2.4 million, part of this amount was sent to the Nusra Front. The prosecutor said the money was mainly transferred using popular 'hawala' services that is common in most of the Arab world and avoids the usual controls to monitor terrorist financing.
A number of European countries were being used for these transfers. The Italian prosecutor added that the investigation had revealed links between those who funded terrorism and illegal immigration, but found no evidence that immigrant traffickers were bringing foreign fighters. Swedish authorities collaborated with their Italian counterparts during the investigations and Italian police officials said their help was extremely important. In the arrest warrant is stated that Anwar Daadoue is the man who was considered the head of the Syrian organization. He often worked in Sweden, where he is already in custody.