Suspects plotted Peshawar massacre
A man suspected to be a member of an armed organisation inspired by al-Qaeda arrested on Friday in Italy.
Rome: Italian police said on Friday that they had dismantled a network of Islamist radicals that included two former bodyguards of Osama bin Laden and the suspected authors of one of Pakistan’s deadliest Peshawar attacks.
In a move that followed a six-year investigation into an illegal immigration racket run from Sardinia, police on the Mediterranean island ordered the arrest of 18 people in coordinated raids across Italy.
The arrest warrants accuse the suspects of belonging to “an organisation dedicated to transnational criminal activities inspired by al-Qaeda and other radical organisations pursuing armed struggle against the West and insurrection against the current government of Pakistan.”
At least six of the suspects were detained on Sardinia and raids were continuing at several locations in the regions of Le Marche and Lombardy on the Italian mainland. Interior minister Angelino Alfano described the swoop as “an extraordinary operation” that demonstrated the efficiency of the security services. Wire tap recordings has led the anti-terror unit to believe that two of the arrested were part of Laden’s securityteam.
( Source : AFP )
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