Apropos of this report filed earlier, Libyan authorities have informed Italy an Islamic State cell linked to veteran jihadi Abu Nassim has formed in Milan.
Italian media reported Sunday that documents left behind after a raid in the Libyan city of Sirte contained information on ISIS’s activities in Italy. The reports further emphasizes Italian worries that ISIS militants are sailing from Libya to Italy posing as refugees.
Abu Nassim, whose real name is Moez Ben Abdelkader Fezzani, is believed to have close ties to the newly-formed cell in Milan.
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Nassim was arrested by Italian forces in 2001 and was held by the U.S. at the Bagram Airfield detention facility in Afghanistan. He was transferred back to Italy in 2009 and was acquitted, and subsequently deported to Tunisia in 2012.
He then returned to being an ISIS commander for forces around the Libyan port of Sabratha.
Italian Minister of the Interior Angelino Alfano promised more and faster deportations of extremist sympathizers Saturday. So far, 43 expulsion orders have been signed in 2016.
Libyan refugees primarily travel to Italy to claim asylum. As ISIS loses territory in Libya, many of its sympathizers may explore Italy as an option.
“The risk that militants could flee to Europe by sea has substantially increased,” said Giacomo Stucchi, president of the Italian Intelligence Committee, according to The Telegraph. “There is total chaos, and in trying to escape from Libya those who are not heading south [into the desert] could try to cross by sea to Europe.”
This report, by Jacob Bojesson, was cross-posted by arrangement with the Daily Caller News Foundation.
