Police in Spain have demolished a rumored jihadi network operating within the nation and taken 14 Pakistani nationals into custody. Following Hamas attacks on Israel one month prior, Spain raised its anti-terrorism alert level, prompting the Office of the General Information Commissioner to launch an operation that resulted in the arrests.
Police in Spain have arrested 14 people of Pakistan origin
The arrests were made as part of an operation launched by Spain’s Office of the General Information Commissioner after the country raised its anti-terrorism alert level following Hamas attacks on Israel a month ago. Spanish security forces have doubled surveillance on suspects to guard against possible attacks, Euro Weekly News reports.
According to Spain’s largest English-language newspaper Euro Weekly News, all those detained were of Pakistani origin and were said to live in Catalonia, Valencia, Guipuzcoa, Vitoria, Logroño, and Lleida.
Police sources confirmed the arrest to the local daily La Rajon. Those arrested will reportedly be produced in court on Wednesday (local time).
The men are believed to have created a network in which jihadist messages and high levels of radicalization were disseminated online, Euro Weekly News reported.
The European Conservative journalist David Atherton posted on the social media app
He said, 14 Pakistani jihadis have been arrested in Spain on charges of terrorist activities. They lived in Catalonia, Valencia, Guipuzcoa, Vitoria, Logroño and Lleida. He is associated with Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan, an Islamic extremist political party in Pakistan.
Last month, Spain’s National Police conducted a similar anti-terrorism operation, where police arrested four suspected jihadists, Euro Weekly News reported.
The Spanish weekly said the four suspects were arrested in the Granada municipality of Huetor-Tazar, Barcelona’s Cubells, and Madrid for ‘proselytization and jihadist recruitment’.
Reportedly, among those arrested was a man named “Khalifa“, who authorities said was “the creator and administrator of several groups in which he tried to recruit youth into the jihadist sect.” “
Those caught included a married couple who got together after joining one of these online social media groups, Euro Weekly News reports. Additionally, the fourth suspected jihadist was said to be an ‘educated’ man.
