Italian authorities arrest Chechen national accused of fighting with ISIS in Syria

Italian authorities have arrested a Chechen man suspected of fighting in Syria with the Islamic State (IS) extremist group and of being involved in a deadly 2014 attack in Russia’s war-scarred southern Chechnya region.

Italian prosecutors said 38-year-old Eli Bombataliyev was being held on terrorism charges in the southern town of Foggia and that he was suspected of having links to an IS network based in Belgium.

Prosecutors also said evidence suggested Bombataliyev participated in a 2014 attack on a printing house in Grozny that resulted in the deaths of 14 security officers and 10 assailants.

It was not immediately clear how long Bombataliyev had been in Italy before his arrest.

An Italian police statement said that the authorities were conducting a broad effort to locate foreign fighters from Chechnya.

IS militants who have fought in Syria have been involved in terrorist attacks in France, Belgium, and other European countries.

Source: Rferl