Alleged Islamic State jihadist arrested at El Prat Airport

Barcelona (ACN) – The Civil Guard arrested an alleged jihadist at El Prat Airport in Barcelona Tuesday morning. The man was wanted by Belgium for alleged membership in the Islamic State, as confirmed by sources close to the investigation. International authorities sought the individual for having fought with the Islamic State in the Syrian conflict. The man had lived in Belgium before leaving to join the Islamic State, and Belgian authorities had put out an order for his search and arrest after he had allegedly committed crimes of terrorism in the Syrian conflict. He was stopping over at El Prat Airport from Algeria en route to going to another European country, according to the Ministry of the Interior. 

Following collaboration with various European police, the Civil Guard launched a search earlier this year on the activities the detainee had carried out and his possible relationship with Spain, which made his arrest possible during his stopover at the Barcelona airport.

This is the second arrest in the past few days in Catalonia related to the Islamic State after Spanish police arrested a man in Badalona who was praising the terrorist organisation and tried to attract new members via social media. The operation was directed by the National Court, the division of the Spanish courts that has jurisdiction over international crimes.