Special to WorldTribune.com
Turkish police on Nov. 18 arrested eight men suspected of being Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) terrorists posing as refugees.
Authorities said the men detained at Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport were found with a hand-drawn map plotting a route from Turkey to Germany, via Greece, Serbia and Hungary.
ISIL had recently boasted about the ease at which it is able to smuggle thousands of jihadists who pose as refugees into Europe. At least one of the terrorists who carried out the attacks on Paris on Nov. 13 had entered France disguised as a refugee.
A Syrian jihadist has claimed that more than 4,000 ISIL jihadists have made it into western nations hidden among refugees.
The map found with the detainees on Nov. 18 included exact details of how the suspects should mix in with refugees arriving on the Greek island of Kos and then board trains and buses to travel across Europe before arriving in Germany.
The Anadolu Agency said the eight men claimed to be tourists visiting Istanbul but a hotel refuted claims they had reservations there.
The Syrian jihadist said terrorists are taking advantage of developed nations’ generosity towards refugees to infiltrate Europe. He said many jihadists hide among refugees crossing the Mediterranean for Italy, then move on toward more welcoming nations like Sweden and Germany.
“They are going like refugees,” he said. “It’s our dream that there should be a caliphate not only in Syria but in all the world.”
Two Turks who claimed to have smuggled refugees, backed up the jihadist’s story, with one claimed to have helped about a dozen ISIL terrorists infiltrate Europe.
“I’m sending some fighters who want to go and visit their families,” the smuggler said. “Others just go to Europe to be ready.”
Eight suspected ISIL jihadists posing as refugees arrested at Istanbul airport added by World Tribune on
View all posts by World Tribune →
You must be logged in to post a comment Login