Italian police have arrested four people suspected of terrorism on Thursday. There are also arrest warrants for two more people in Syria. One of the suspects is a Moroccan-born national in Italy. He received orders from the Islamic State group (ISIS) to attack in Rome during the Holy Year, from December 2015 to November 2016.
Authorities named him Abderrahim Moutahrrick. He received a WhatsApp message from ISIS-held territory that read: “Dear brother Abderrahim, I send you... the bomb poem... listen to the sheik and strike,” in reference to ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Moutahrrick planned to attack the Vatican and the Israeli embassy in Rome. He also told one of the other suspects, 23-year-old Moroccan-born Abderrahmane Khachia: “I want to hit Israel in Rome.” Khachia was arrested in Varese, Italy and Moutahrrick was living in the city of Lecco, north of Milan. There are also warrants for an Italian-Moroccan couple who traveled to Syria last year to join ISIS, The man is Mohamed Koraichi who directed Moutahrrick to carry out the attacks on Italian soil. Moutahrrick tried to buy weapons from in Italy and stated his intention to attack the Vatican. He planned to move his family—a wife and two children aged 2 and 4—to ISIS-Syria.
“For these enemies I swear if I manage to bring my family to safety, I swear I will be the first to attack...in this crusading Italy...the Vatican with the will of God,” he told Koraichi in an intercepted audio message. The Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi thanked police on Twitter: “Very important anti-extremist operation in north this morning. Compliments to the ministry, intelligence (services), investigators and police forces #alltogether,” he wrote.
Operazione stamani anti estremisti al nord molto importante. Complimenti a ministro, intelligence, inquirenti e forze ordine #tuttiinsieme
— Matteo Renzi (@matteorenzi) ISIS has used the symbolism of Rome and the Roman Empire to explain its plans to conquer Europe and attack the continent’s “crusaders” for recruitment. Edited from ANSA
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