Italian police said on Friday 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 terror 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, Lazio, 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.
“With one sole investigation that started in 2009 we have succeeded in not only dismantling a network of people traffickers but also (detaining) several individuals accused of conspiring with terrorist aims and others of involvement in attacks,” Alfano said.