When it comes to the insurgency of immigrants and illegals into the United States, Mexico is a failed partner. When it comes to the insurgency of immigrants and illegals into Europe, Greece is the failed partner.
CNN: Greece has become an unwitting crossroads — both for jihadists trying to reach Iraq and Syria from Europe, and for fighters returning home from the Middle East.
Greece’s long land and maritime boundaries, its proximity to Turkey, the explosion of illegal migration from Syria and the country’s dire financial situation make it an inviting hub for jihadist groups, according to multiple counterterrorism sources.
One source close to the Greek intelligence services told CNN there may be some 200 people in the country with links to jihadist groups such as the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) or the al Nusra Front — the two groups that most Europeans join.
In 2011, Greek authorities detained nearly 50,000 illegal migrants from Afghanistan and Pakistan, according to police figures.One analyst who has studied jihadist travel patterns says there are indications that militants are setting up logistical, recruitment and financial cells in Greece, in part to facilitate the travel of a growing number of would-be fighters traveling from Kosovo and Albania.
Linking ISIS leadership and European jihadists
Intelligence agencies had identified him as a link between ISIS leadership in Syria and European terror cells, and he is believed to have moved between several European countries without being apprehended.
Abaaoud, in his late 20s, had been on the counterterrorism radar for some time and was targeted in French airstrikes on Syria last month, a French counterterrorism source told CNN.
He was believed to be close to ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
French military forces carried out airstrikes in October targeting an ISIS training camp for foreign fighters in Raqqa, Syria, in an effort to kill Abaaoud, the French counterterrorism source said.
“He was the one training foreign fighters,” and he spent time at the camp, the source said, but it’s not clear if Abaaoud was there at the time of the airstrikes.
France’s former top counterterror judge, Jean-Louis Bruguiere, told CNN’s Jim Sciutto the Paris attacks were planned in Syria.
Bruguiere said Abaaoud would certainly have been in contact with Baghdadi about an attack like the one last week. In addition, Bruguiere said, this fits with Baghdadi’s vision of establishing the ISIS caliphate and then exporting the war to the West.
A personal connection also points to Abaaoud’s alleged involvement in planning the Paris attacks. Salah Abdeslam — the on-the-run suspected eighth attacker — is a longstanding associate of Abaaoud, with both men involved in gangs in Molenbeek, Belgium, that carried out robberies and other petty crimes.
AFP-Paris: Moroccan intelligence helped put French investigators on the trail of the Belgian jihadist suspected of orchestrating last week’s deadly attacks in Paris, police sources said Thursday.
A Moroccan tip-off, along with other information, helped police track Abdelhamid Abaaoud to an apartment block in a northern Paris suburb, where he was killed in a raid on Wednesday.
*** Islamic State is a tech savvy organization and quite advanced in protecting its military tactics and communications. This has proven difficult for counterterrorism professionals to trace and track their work, but it is clearly not impossible.
In part from TheHill: The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) uses a 34-page manual to instruct its followers on how to stay invisible on the Internet.
The Arabic document was translated and released this week by analysts at the Combating Terrorism Center.
Users are also directed to use Apple’s encrypted FaceTime and iMessage features over regular unencrypted text and chat features.
“This short guide ask God’s faithfulness in it, and we hope to be published and participation on a wider scale,” the document concludes.
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