Europe takes on terrorism

Fox News reports that many of the law enforcement agencies in Europe are facing down terrorist cells. After yesterday’s shoot out in Belgium that sent three jihadists to Allah, the Germans and French have been busy, too;

Meanwhile, French police arrested at least 12 people in anti-terrorism raids in three towns around Paris, the city prosecutor’s office said early Friday.

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Also Friday, Berlin police said that they had taken two men into custody on suspicion that they were recruiting fighters and procuring equipment and funding for the Islamic State group, better known as ISIS, in Syria.

The two were picked up in a series of raids involving the search of 11 residences by 250 police officers. Authorities said the raids were part of a months-long investigation into a small group of extremists based in Berlin. However, they also said there was no evidence the group was planning attacks inside Germany.

Reuters reports that the Germans are adamant that these arrests aren’t tied to the attacks in Paris last week and that the investigation had been going on for months.

Reuters also reports that Austrian police have arrested a 14-year-old for the second time for planning to go to Syria to support the Islamic State. He was picked up once in October and released under the condition that he keep in touch with authorities. His mother called to say he was missing and law enforcement found him along with a 12-year-old as they made plans to go to Turkey. The boy seems to be a Turkish national. Austrians also report that they stopped two other female teens last week who were planning to marry ISIS terrorists after their journey to Syria.

Amid bomb threats in Paris, the Associated Press reports that dozens have been arrested in Europe;

In a separate speech to diplomats, Hollande said France is “waging war” against terrorism and will not back down from its international military operations against Islamic extremists in Iraq and northern Africa. France’s Parliament voted this week to extend airstrikes against Islamic State extremists in Iraq.

Belgian authorities are separately looking for possible links between a man they arrested in the southern city of Charleroi for illegal trade in weapons and Coulibaly.

Several other countries are also involved in the hunt for possible accomplices to Coulibaly and the gunmen who attacked the newspaper, brothers Cherif and Said Kouachi.

And, of course, James Taylor is fighting his own war against terror with John Kerry’s help. So we have that going for us.

Category: Terror War