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ISIS Trained 173 Members to Stage Europe Attacks | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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ISIS militants in Raqqa in 2014. It is not known whether the militants will attempt to set up a new Syrian base when their ‘capital’ falls. AP


Brussels, Jeddah- Interpol blacklisted ISIS-linked 173 terrorists that are believed to have received training to carry out attacks in Europe, in retaliation for the group’s suffered defeats in its Middle East strongholds.

Interpol received information gathered by US intelligence agencies in Iraq and Syria, which helped identify dozens of suspects.

Many European countries believe that with ISIS losses in Iraq and Syria, the risk of attacks by extremists on the continent is increasing, especially as some European extremists return from areas of conflict in the Middle East to their countries.

Interpol fears the militants, “operating alone” in Europe, are seeking revenge as ISIS collapses in the Middle East.

The list was sent to EU intelligence sources to determine if they “have any details on the individuals,” though their presence in Europe could not be verified.

Interpol said the militants “may have been trained to build and position improvised explosive devices in order to cause serious deaths and injuries.”

“It is believed that they can travel internationally, to participate in terrorist activities,” the international police agency added.

Identification cards were created for the militants so each EU member country in the Interpol network “could integrate the data with local databases.”

The suspects on the list were thought to have “manifested willingness to commit a suicidal attack or martyrdom,” a note circulated globally by Interpol revealed.

For each of the militants, an ID was created to ensure that each member country in the Interpol network could integrate the data with local databases.

Interpol has asked its national partners for any information they might have about each name on the list, and any other background personal data they have on their files, such as border crossings, previous criminal offences, biometric data, passport numbers, activity on social media and travel history.

YouTube has joined the fight against terrorism by reorienting those who are looking for content that spurs violence to anti-content when using keywords linked to extremist ideology.

This feature uses artificial intelligence techniques to update key search words that redirect users to anti-terrorism content previously developed by non-governmental organizations.

The feature is currently supported by keywords in English, but the company will expand this in the coming weeks to support many additional languages, including Arabic, in an effort to prevent terrorists from using YouTube to spread extremist ideology recruit youth on the virtual platform.