Reports of Interpol alert over ISIS operation in the Mediterranean

Italian military sources quoted as taking warning seriously, but sceptical about the prospect of an attack at sea by Islamic State.

Photos from September 2014 of an ISIS carcade in Derna
Photos from September 2014 of an ISIS carcade in Derna

Interpol has issued a warning to Mediterranean countries to be on the alert for an attempt by Islamic State (ISIS) militants to carry out some sort of operation at sea over the next few days, Italian military sources told specialist news website Migrant Report.

Italian military sources said the warning was being taken seriously, “but they remained sceptical about the prospect of an attack at sea by ISIS.”

In its internal warning, Interpol cited its sources saying the terrorist group could be planning an operation off the Libyan shores at the weekend.

Migrant Report said smugglers in coastal areas west of Tripoli were preparing to send hundreds of migrants, taking advantage of a good forecast weather window.

ISIS first promised to take its fight to “Rome” in its first beheading video on Libyan soil.

Quilliam – a British anti-extremist group that describes itself as the “world’s first counter-extremism think tank” – had also claimed that Islamic State jihadists planned to flood Libya with militiamen from Syria and Iraq, and then sail across the Mediterranean, exploiting human trafficking passageways as a means of gaining entry into Europe.

Interpol’s warning comes in the wake of the massacre in Sousse, Tunisia, in which 39 people (30 of which British) were killed in an attack claimed by ISIS.

Currently, the EU is operating EUNAVFOR Med – a military operation designed to target people-smugglers but which for the time being is limited to intelligence gathering – while Italy has been running operation Mare Sicuro since November 2014.

ISIS had claimed the city of Derna, considered the most pious Muslim city in Libya with a long history of Islamist radicalism, back in September 2014.

The Shura Council of Mujahideen in Derna, an umbrella organisation of Derna-based Islamist factions opposed to ISIS, launched an offensive against militants in June 2015. After days of clashes, they were reportedly able to push ISIS out of large portions of the city. On 15 June, ISIS was expelled from Derna by the Abu Salim Martyrs Brigade, while government forces loyal to Tobruk captured the western outskirts of Derna.