Suspected IS terrorist arrested in Italy after flying from Eindhoven to Rome
Police in Italy arrested an individual suspected of being actively involved in terrorist organization ISIS shortly after he managed to fly from Eindhoven Airport to Rome Fiumicino Airport on Monday morning. The suspect, identified only by the initials S.I., was born in 1992 and holds citizenship from Tajikistan.
He was stopped by police moments after walking off the aircraft. He was taken into custody on an international arrest warrant that alleged he had joined Islamic State after flying to Syria in 2014.
Italian police quoted the warrant, stating, "He appears to be an active member of the terrorist organization called Isis.” Authorities in Italy did not say why he was able to slip past security in Eindhoven unnoticed, but he has assumed multiple identities in the past. "The fugitive had numerous aliases, with different nationalities and dates of birth, in particular from Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Ukraine," police in Rome said in a statement.
It was not immediately clear what flight he had boarded, but the only nonstop flight from Eindhoven to Rome on Monday was Wizz Air Malta flight 6084, which departed at about 9:50 a.m. It landed in Italy close to 11:45 a.m. The arrest was made by the General Investigations and Special Operations Division (DIGOS), along with a central police authority for crime prevention, and border agents at Fiumencino Airport.
"The arrest of a citizen of Tajikistan which took place today, thanks to the activity of the State Police, represents a very important result: the fruit of the effective prevention activity carried out by our national organization to counter the terrorist threat," said Italian Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi.
"In fact, there is a constant sharing of both information assets and operational strategies with our international partners to effectively deal with risk profiles."
