Dilip Kuner
SPANISH police have arrested three men who allegedly used humanitarian aid for Syrian orphans as a cover to finance terrorism.
Policía Nacional supported by Europol, made the arrests in Madrid and Santa Cruz de Tenerife.
The suspects are believed to have used a non-governmental organisation (NGO) to finance the activities of Al-Qaeda affiliated militants.
The network diverted funds raised in good faith by religious associations, under the cover of using them as humanitarian aid for Syrian orphans. In addition to financing the activities of terrorist fighters, part of the funds were used to cover the costs of a school for orphaned children, which is involved in training future terrorist fighters.
The school focused on radicalising, providing combat training and encouraging orphans to continue the terrorist activities of their parents killed in combat.
As part of the operational action, officers carried out four searches and seized cash. It is unclear if this was a separate operation to one in which Spain’s leading Muslim figure was arrested and released by the Policia Nacional after he was quizzed over terrorist group funding.
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