Italian police issued six arrest warrants Thursday for
people suspected of plotting to join the Islamic State group. Three of
the suspects were plotting attacks on the Vatican and the Israeli
embassy in Rome, Reuters reported.
“I swear I will be the first to attack them in this Italy of
crusaders, I swear I’ll attack it, in the Vatican, God willing,” one
man said, according to a transcript of a wire-tapped conversation
released by Italian officials. Another recording revealed the same man
said he had contacted an Albanian man in order to get a gun so he could
target the Israeli embassy in Rome.
Officials across Europe have stepped up security in the wake
of major terrorist attacks in Paris and Brussels. The Islamic State
group, also known as ISIS, took responsibility for both attacks. The
November attacks in Paris left 130 people dead and hundreds injured
while attacks in Brussels in March left 32 people dead and hundreds
injured.
American officials said Monday that ISIS was operating cells
throughout Europe in countries including Germany, Britain and Italy.“That is a concern, obviously, of ours and our European allies,” said James R. Clapper Jr., the director of national intelligence, when asked about the terror group’s activity across Europe, the New York Times reported.
“We continue to see evidence of plotting on the part
of ISIL in the countries you named,” he said, using another acronym for
the terrorist group. Clapper said American officials have been working
with their European counterparts to share intelligence and encourage
greater cooperation across European borders.
Italian officials said four of the six suspects were
arrested Thursday while the location of a Moroccan man and his Italian
wife was still unknown. Officials said the couple had left Italy last
year to travel to either Iraq or Syria where ISIS controls territory.
“The new aspect here is that we are not talking about a
generic indication [of an attack] but a specific person being appointed
to act on Italian soil,” said Milan prosecutor Maurizio Romanelli.
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