Europe-wide Jihadi Network Uncovered In Raids

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Evidence of a terror network sprawled over the European Union has been uncovered in a series of raids following the Brussels terror attacks.

Several individuals arrested across Europe in recent days have connections to the perpetrators of the Brussels atrocities, European officials said. French and Belgian authorities are now seeking closer cooperation with the United States to thwart and dismantle the Islamic State network in Europe, which has claimed the lives of 130 in Paris and 32 in Brussels.

“We know there are other networks,” France’s President François Hollande said. “Even if the network which conducted attacks in Paris and Brussels is about to be neutralized, there is always a threat hanging.”

The ease with which several of the attackers in the European capitals travelled to Syria and back raises serious concerns regarding the whereabouts and intentions of some 5,000 so-called “homegrown jihadis” have travelled to Syria, Iraq, and other conflict areas to fight alongside terrorist organisations. Many of them are considered by the pan-European police agency, Europol, to pose a “serious threat” to the continent.

The failings of the Belgian and European security apparatus are demonstrated in the case of Khalid Zerkani, aka “Papa Noel” (which mean Santa Claus in French). Zerkani, now captured and sentenced for 12 years, is considered to be “Belgium’s biggest ever jihadi recruiter,” and is one of the men responsible for the creation of Belgium’s most deadly cell.

Zerkani operated with impunity for years, both on the criminal level, and as a terrorist recruiter. He preyed on young, disaffected men in unofficial mosques, paying out 4,000 euros to each to travel to Syria or another conflict zone. Dozens of fighters in Syria arrived there due to his efforts, and many of them have returned. Of them men he enlisted was also the terrorist who detonated a suicide vest in the Brussels airport. And such like him operate freely all across the continent, with little repercussions, and with authorities powerless to stop them.