After the arrest of an Islamic State fighter in Mallorca, authorities worry the group may target European beaches and bathers over the summer in new terror attacks.
According to the Madrid Ministry of the Interior authorities on the island of Mallorca arrested a 26-year-old who is said to have been in close contact with the leadership of the Islamic State in Syria. The young man used internet forums to recruit new fighters for the group and offered assistance to would-be fighters who wanted to make the trip to Syria.
From his home in Palma the suspected terrorist also advocated new attacks and called upon others to commit acts of terror in Spain and elsewhere reports Kurier.
The arrest comes at a time when media in Italy and Germany have both reported a heightened security alert on European beaches. According to information obtained from police chief, captain Pouye Seck, from the African nation of Senegal, ISIS fighters may target beach goers in Spain, Southern France and Italy.
The attacks would be similar to the mass shooting of tourists that occurred in Tunisia and led to the deaths of 39 people.
Seck described the Islamic State as making rapid expansion into Senegal. He said, “men of the Caliphate are among us. They train a few kilometres from some resorts. The whole area has become inaccessible.” Seck told of Islamic State linked schools who want to replicate the Tunisia attacks in Europe.
He said that the ISIS fighters would most likely disguise themselves as t-shirt and sunglasses street vendors and sneak in automatic weapons or high explosives to then go on a rampage.
There is great concern because many migrants, from Senegal in particular, travel to Italy and Spain to sell their wares. The police chief is concerned that because of the regularity of wares being shipped from Senegal to Italy it may be easy for ISIS linked groups to smuggle weapons in the shipments, perhaps without even the knowledge of sellers who come over to work legitimately.
Italian paper Il Giornale reported that smuggling goods from Senegal was not a difficult task, usually only involving the equivalent of an 8 euro bribe to the officer on duty.
Both the German Federal Intelligence service and the Italian secret service have not commented officially on the reports. Sources at Germany’s Bild newspaper say that this particular scenario is something the agencies are preparing for and that the Italians in particular had told the Germans about the potential ISIS linked “training centres” in Senegal.
Breitbart London has reported on the huge numbers of migrants who have already, or are expected to cross from North Africa into Europe this summer. Around 800,000 migrants currently wait in Libya and new evidence suggests Egypt may be becoming a new hot spot for migrants to depart from.
The Islamic State has expanded into Libya in the chaos that ensued after the fall of Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi and the group has made alliances with other African jihadist groups like Boko Haram in Nigeria. Senegal may be the next country to be affected by the Islamic State’s expansion of territory.
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