Italy arrests 5 Tunisians in anti-terror raids

Italian police on Thursday arrested five Tunisians suspected of being part of a terror network tied to Anis Amri, who killed 12 people in a truck ramming attack at a Berlin Christmas market in December 2016.

Amri, a rejected asylum seeker from Tunisia, was shot and killed by police in Milan four days after the Berlin attack claimed by the "Islamic State."

One of the five Tunisian nationals arrested in the city of Latina, south of Rome, is suspected of having planned to provide false documents to get Amri out of Italy, police said.

Read more: Germany: How do terrorist groups compare?

In the wake of the Berlin attack, German authorities came faced intense criticism after it emerged Amri used multiple fake documents and should have been deported to Tunisia.

The anti-terror raids were carried out in Rome, Latina, Naples and other cities.

Reuters cited security forces as saying that the five Tunisians were not suspected of directly participating in the Berlin truck attack, nor were they imminently preparing one in Italy.

Italian authorities have carried out numerous counterterrorism operations this month, including one on Wednesday that led to the arrest of an Italian citizen of Moroccan origin suspected of planning a knife attack or truck ramming.

On Tuesday, police arrested what they said was a radical Islamic preacher indoctrinating young children in Foggia.

Interior Minister Marco Minniti has put security service on high alert for potential terror plots targeting tourist hotspots and other busy areas.

Italy is one of the few major European countries to be spared a large-scale terror attack in recent years.

cw/kms (AFP, AP, dpa, Reuters)

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