Italy: Police arrest Tunisians in counterterror operation March 29 /update 1

Event

On Thursday, March 29, Italian police arrested five Tunisian men as part of a large counterterror operation ongoing in several cities in central and southern Italy. Those arrested are suspected of having links to Anis Amri, the perpetrator of the December 2016 Berlin Christmas market attack; one of the men is suspected to have procured false Italian identity documents to facilitate Amri's travel throughout Europe. Related operations targeting individuals suspected of having links to Islamist militant organizations have notably taken place in Rome, Naples, Latina, Viterbo, Caserta, and Matera in recent days.

Context

On March 28, an Italian citizen of Moroccan origin - suspected of being an Islamic State (IS) sympathizer and planning a truck-ramming attack - was arrested in Turin.

Since 2015, Italy has expelled over 260 suspected religious extremists; 29 have been deported from the country thus far in 2018. Italian Minister of the Interior Marco Minniti said in an interview published March 28 that the threat posed by IS sympathizers in Italy is the highest it has ever been, as former IS fighters are likely to return to Italy as the group has suffered major territorial losses in Iraq and Syria.

Advice

Individuals in Italy are advised to monitor developments to the situation, remain vigilant for potential militant activity, report all suspicious objects and behavior, and adhere to all instructions issued by the local authorities.