Europe struggles to keep lid on extremist cells

Nahla Abdelmonem

Terrorist cells pose major security challenges for Europe.

In the past period, a large number of networks that contain extremists from different regions were uncovered.

These networks could have easily staged attacks in different parts of Europe, given the freedom of movement between the different countries of the continent.

The Italian security services revealed the detention of 35-year-old Algerian citizen, Othman Touami, for helping members of the Islamic State group (ISIS) fabricate personal documents to carry out the bloody Paris attacks.

The attacks took place on November 13 and 14, 2015 and left at 130 people at least dead.

The authorities confirmed the man’s involvement in the attacks after two years of investigations.

He was responsible for issuing fabricated personal documents that facilitated the passage of ISIS elements to the sites of the attacks.

These sites included the Batclan Theater and a football stadium in the capital, Paris.

They also included a number of restaurants and crowded areas.

Bystanders at that time of the attack made the toll from it higher.

Problems

Touami’s arrest reveals some of the problems related to terrorist cells in the European Union countries.

Although he is not the only representative of this type during the recent period, his case is intertwined enough to frame the European imbalance in the face of extremism and the spread of Islamist groups in the region.

First, extremism centers

The evidence presented by the authorities proves that the accused of Algerian origins arrested in Italy lived for a while in the British capital, London, and was one of the most prominent frequenters of the Finsbury Park Mosque.

This throws light on possible links between the mosque and extremist elements.

Founded in 1990 in London, the Finsbury Park Mosque is associated with Abu Hamza al-Masri, a high-profile terrorist whose real name is Mustafa Kamal Mustafa.

He is over 60 years old and is currently serving a life sentence in the United States for using the mosque where he worked as an imam in spreading the extremist ideology.