Italy and Albania Arrest Three ISIS Recruiters

Albanian police on Wednesday said they had arrested 38-year-old Alban Haki Elezi, from the village of Frakull, near the town of Kavaja in central Albania, acting on an Interpol warrant issued by the Italian authorities.

"His arrest was carried out based on a warrant issued by Interpol Rome and a ruling issued by a court in Brescia, on suspicion of terrorist acts," the statement said.

Italian media reports said that apart from Alban Elezi, Italian authorities have also arrested his nephew, Elvis Elezi, in Turin and a 28-year-old Italian of Moroccan origin.

Italian authorities are increasingly concerned by the number of radicalized Muslims emigrants from the Balkans joining the ranks of the Islamist militants.

According to a document seen by BIRN, the Italian Interior Ministry has identified five radical cells from the Balkans operating in Italy and recruiting jihadist fighters for the Islamic State.

The cells located in Milan, Rome, Liguria, Lucca and Siena have allegedly infiltrated communities composed of Muslim emigrants from Albania, Kosovo, Macedonia and Bosnia.

So far, eight of 59 people that Italian security agencies have identified as joining radical Islamic groups fighting in Syria and Iraq come from the Balkans. Four have already died in the Syrian war.

Because of its geographical proximity, Italian authorities are worried that ties between radical preachers coming from the Balkans and local Muslim communities could turn the country into a centre of radical Islamist activity.