Large Italian Counterterrorism Operation Shows Threat to Europe

Italian police are currently conducting a large-scale counterterrorism operation on Friday to dismantle an al-Qaeda linked terror network that was reportedly planning an attack on the Vatican. Some members of the cell were of a sufficiently high-level of importance within Al Qaeda to have had direct contact with Osama bin Laden.

The operation, which is still underway, consists of a series of raids in seven provinces throughout Italy, one of which targeted the Italian Mediterranean island of Sardinia, the terror cell’s alleged headquarters. Much of the intelligence leading to the raids came from investigators wiretapping the network’s phones and computers between 2005 and 2012, before the group discovered they were being monitored.

Authorities expect to arrest 18 people, most of them from Pakistan, in what Mario Carta, the counter-terror police official leading the raids called “one of the most important operations we ever conducted.” Nine people are already detained, two are at-large in Italy, and the remaining seven are believed to be in Pakistan.

Counterterrorism officials said the network started operating out of Sardinia in 2005 and was very well structured, composed primarily of Afghan and Pakistani nationals with connections to al-Qaeda and the Taliban.

Prosecutor Mauro Mura revealed at a news conference in Sardinia that wiretaps indicate the terror cell was preparing for a possible attack on the Vatican, including having a Pakistani suicide bomber arrive in Rome, who later left the country. The 2010 plot was meant to target Pope Benedict XVI, but the Vatican released a statement saying the threat is no longer a concern.

Two members of the network are thought to have been close confidants of Osama bin Laden who actually assisted the al-Qaeda leader while he was in hiding. According to Carta, wiretaps show one man bragging that bin Laden personally sent him to Italy; Italian authorities believe members of the cell were in contact with people who knew bin Laden’s whereabouts and even asked about his health over the phone.

Some of those with warrants out for arrest are suspected of having involvement with the brutal 2009 market bombing in Peshawar, Pakistan that killed at least 100 people and injured over 200 others.

According to police, the terror cell’s goal was to create an insurrection against the Pakistani government and support attacks that would deteriorate the government’s backing of United States forces in Afghanistan. Furthermore, the network “preached armed struggle against the West” and was very well armed.

To these ends, the network fundraised throughout Italy to then smuggle the money into Pakistan for terrorist operations. An imam in the northern city of Bergamo, for example, who was the group’s alleged spiritual leader and has been arrested, collected money supposedly for religious reasons from Afghans and Pakistanis in Italy. Much of the money was moved through hawala, a trust-based transfer system that predates the Prophet Mohammed.

The network also frequently smuggled illegal immigrants out of Afghanistan and Pakistan who posed as political refugees to trick immigration officers. One suspect owned a construction business in Sardinia, and he reportedly recruited immigrants with false documents. The organization used work contracts as a primary way to get people into the country.

Italy has been especially concerned about Islamic terrorism reaching its borders since Islamic State (ISIS) moved into Libya – just across the Mediterranean – and threatened to takeover Rome and send migrants to Italy in a video where the jihadist group beheaded 21 Coptic Christians. Despite being enemies, al-Qaeda and ISIS have worked together, like with the attack on Charlie Hebdo, making an al-Qaeda cell on Italian soil even more serious than the obvious threat it would normally pose.

While the Italian counterterrorism operation is encouraging, it is a sober reminder of the danger that the West faces from Islamic terrorism. There are differences between extremist groups like ISIS and al-Qaeda, but their main enemy is ultimately western civilization. Given the several attacks carried out in western countries like France and Denmark, this threat is not confined to the Middle East and Africa. The danger is real today, especially in Europe, and other countries need to confront it like Italy did on Friday.