GERMAN cops have arrested a suspected ISIS terrorist while he was trying to sneak his way into the Euros.
Anti-terror investigators caught Soufian T, 23, who is said to have applied to get a pass as a security guard for “side events” outside the football stadium.
When authorities checked his application to become a member of staff, they found that the German state security had deemed Soufian an Islamist.
Cops from the Cologne police department, along with investigators from the Bonn State Security Service and federal police, arrested the German-Moroccan-Polish citizen with his mother and sister at Cologne-Bonn Airport.
A number of mobile phones and €2,500 were seized.
The championship kicks off in Germany on June 14 and the build-up has already started.
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The England team is set to play against Slovenia in a stadium in Cologne.
State security officials also discovered that he had applied for two accreditations in Rhineland-Palatinate for the big events Rock am Ring and the 24 Hour Nürburgring.
Further investigations by the Federal police found that the suspected terrorist had booked a one-way ticket for a trip from Germany to Istanbul in May, fuelling their suspicions.
After the arrest, Soufian T’s apartment was searched and other mobile phones, data storage devices and computers were confiscated.
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The Federal Criminal Police Office was also called in and further investigations were made on his bank account and online activities.
Investigators also seized what are said to have been suspicious recordings.
The suspect was taken to Karlsruhe under heavy guard and brought before the investigating judge at the Federal Court of Justice.
His mother stated that they were supposedly planning to make a pilgrimage to Mecca.
She was able to show tickets that showed that they were planning to continue their journey to Riyadh in Saudi Arabia.
She also had return tickets with her.
The investigation is ongoing.
It comes as the threat of terrorism in Europe by radical jihadists is at an all-time high.
England fans were previously warned of a new terror threat for Euro 2024.
Previously, ISIS-K – an Afghanistan-based offshoot of ISIS – issued threats against cities including Paris and London.
The Al Azaim Foundation, a media channel responsible for disseminating messages from ISIS-K shared a post threatening an attack on four stadiums, also including the Santiago Bernabeu in Madrid.
Games targeted included Arsenal versus Bayern Munich at the Emirates Stadium, and PSG vs Barcelona at the Parc des Princes.
It comes after French security services foiled a plot for an “Islamist-inspired” attack which was planned for during this summer’s Olympic Games.
The country’s domestic intelligence agency arrested 18-year-old Rokhman B. who is suspected of organising an attack on a football game in Lyon.
The Chechen immigrant to France is said to have wanted to disrupt games planned in Saint-Étienne, a city in the east of the country, and “die a martyr” by killing spectators or police officers.
France’s interior ministry said he had been detained for “actively preparing an attack against the Geoffroy Guichard stadium [in Saint-Etienne] during the football games that will take place there.”
Meanwhile, the Paris Olympics chief promised a ring of steel at the opening ceremony amid fears it may have to be moved due to terror threats.
Tony Estanguet insisted that “security is the priority” to ensure the safety of 15million fans and more than 10,000 athletes.
Western intelligence revealed how cops stopped at least 12 terror attacks in the past 12 months across Europe.
Ten jihadist attacks have been bravely intercepted and prevented in Europe last year, says Dutch intelligence agency AIVD.
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Who are ISIS-K?
ISIS-K are a splinter faction is a warped army of barbaric fanatics that even terrify the Taliban.
It’s members are believed to have led the massacre at a Russian rock concert that killed at least 133.
Some 6,000 people are believed to have been inside the venue watching Russian rock band Picnic when the bloodshed began.
The gunmen began shooting civilians at point-blank range – through glass doors, turnstiles and then the concert hall itself, traumatised witnesses said.
At least 133 were killed – including three children – and over 121 wounded – but the death toll continues to rise as bodies are pulled from the smouldering rubble.
The US says it has intelligence that confirms the Islamic State’s claim of responsibility for the bloody massacre – and argued it was led by an Afghanistan-based splinter cell, ISIS-K.
Originally formed in 2015, the group have been a consistent threat to security in Afghanistan, carrying out brutal suicide bombings and vile ceremonial executions.
The “K” refers to the historical region of Greater Khorasan, which included parts of Iran, Turkmenistan and Afghanistan.
Despite efforts from the West, the former Afghan government and the Taliban to fight them back – they seized on the chaos sown by the country’s collapse and quickly established a reputation for extreme brutality.
One of the most active regional affiliates of the Islamic State militant group, ISIS-K’s membership peaked in 2018 before declining.
It suffered heavy losses inflicted by American air strikes and Taliban forces, reportedly cutting its ranks in half.
However, it got a dramatic second wind after the US troop withdrawal from Afghanistan and the country’s fall to the Taliban.
The group was responsible for an attack on Kabul’s international airport in 2021 that killed 13 US troops and scores of civilians during the chaotic US evacuation from the country.
The attack raised the international profile of the group and help position it as a major threat to the Taliban’s rule.
On May 8, 2021, ISIS-K were blamed for the bombing of the Sayed al-Shuhada girls’ school which saw two improvised explosive devices and a car bomb explode outside the school.
Other vicious attacks include the storming of Kabul University by gunman which left 22 dead and 22 wounded in November 2020, and a suicide bomber who blew himself up at a wedding killing 92 in August 2019.
In September 2022, ISIS-K militants claimed responsibility for a deadly suicide bombing at the Russian embassy in Kabul.
Among the attacks foiled include stabbing rampages at global events, and barbaric assaults on specific venues and groups being targeted, the annual report revealed.
AIVD didn’t elaborate further on where the 10 attacks were set to take place.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
