(Europe) – Spanish police detained a most-wanted fugitive who is an Islamic State (IS) fighter in the southern town of Almeria, the government said.
The Egyptian man had fought in Syria and Iraq and he was found hiding in an apartment with two other people who have also been arrested. They were being identified by police, according to the interior ministry.
The man has been involved in gory propaganda and has appeared in several pictures of IS crimes, the ministry said.
“The detained man spent several years in the Syria-Iraq area and presents peculiar personality features such as an extremely violent criminal profile which caught the attention of police and intelligence services in Europe.”
– Statement from the Spanish Police
The identity of the man has not been disclosed.
The three suspects made their way to Spain via North Africa and were keeping a low profile during the coronavirus lockdown in the country, leaving the apartment one-by-one and wearing protective masks
Police have been trying to intercept many of the dozens of Spanish Muslims who left for Syria and Iraq to fight alongside Islamic State and may now want to perpetrate attacks on home soil such as the killing of 16 people in Barcelona in 2017.
(Photos syndicated via Reuters)
This story has been edited by BH staff and is published from a syndicated field.