Several terror attacks. Deadly counterterrorism raids. And a wave of suspected jihadist arrests from France to Greece to Belgium.
European Union officials are scrambling to stop the spread of terrorism and threats, with foreign ministers meeting Monday in Brussels, Belgium, to tackle the issue.
“We start with obviously a discussion on how to counter terrorism, not only in Europe but also in other parts of the world,” said Federica Mogherini, EU high representative for foreign affairs.
She said she had just met with Arab League Secretary-General Nabil el-Araby “as the threat is not only the one we faced in Paris, but also spreading in many other parts of the world starting from Muslim countries.
“And we need to strengthen our way of cooperating together, first of all with Arab countries, and then internally.”
With new developments sprouting up across Europe, here are the latest:
• Sales of counterfeit goods by Charlie Hebdo attacker Cherif Kouachi helped fund the purchase of weapons, a source familiar with the ongoing investigation in France told CNN.
• The man detained by Belgian police after a raid last week has been identified. But his attorney says he isn’t a terrorist — he was just delivering shoes to a friend when he was caught in the wrong place at the wrong time.
• France is looking for two people whose DNA was found on a gun magazine and on the car of a slain terrorist.
• Greece arrested an Algerian man wanted by Belgian police in their terrorism investigation.
French investigation reveals more intelligence failures
Although French officials said they thought Cherif Kouachi had given up terror-related activities and moved to end surveillance on him after he began selling counterfeit goods, it turns out the proceeds from those sales were being used to buy weapons, a source familiar with the ongoing investigation in France told CNN.
That’s just one of several missteps by intelligence agencies in France being revealed by an ongoing investigation into the attacks, the source said.
Other failings include a lack of communication and delays in circulating information, according to the source.
In one case, a French surveillance agency received an alert about one of the Kouachi brothers’ phones in February 2014, but it took four months for information to be passed on to the country’s main domestic spy agency, the source said. By then, neither brother was under surveillance, the source said.
The surveillance on Cherif Kouachi ended in November 2013; the surveillance on Said Kouachi, the older brother, ended in June, sources have told CNN.
Also, authorities now say they think both Said and Cherif Kouachi traveled to Yemen in 2011 via Oman, even though Cherif’s passport had been confiscated in 2010. However, investigators have been unable to find either brother’s name in travel databases, according to the source.
France: Could DNA lead to more terrorists?
The search for more jihadists in France could hinge on DNA left on a slain terrorist’s belongings.
Two sets of DNA were found on Amedy Coulibaly’s gun magazine and car, a source with knowledge of the investigation told CNN.
Coulibaly is the gunman who killed four hostages on January 9 at a kosher grocery store in Paris before police killed him. Before the siege, he had proclaimed his allegiance to the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, or ISIS.
The attack happened two days after assailants killed 12 people at the offices of the Charlie Hebdo satirical newspaper in Paris.
Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, al Qaeda’s Yemen affiliate, claimed responsibility for the Charlie Hebdo shootings.
Belgium: Delivering shoes, or plotting terrorism?
Four days after police raided a suspected terror cell in Verviers, Belgium, killing two people, we now know the name of the surviving suspects.
Marouane El Bali was taken into custody and faces charges of participation in a terrorist organization and possession of explosives with intent to commit a criminal attack, among other charges, said his attorney, Didier De Quévy.
But De Quévy said his client was not involved in any terrorism.
“He went to Verviers to see his fiancée and was dropping off a pair of sneakers,” De Quévy told CNN. “He did not know that these guys were connected to international terrorism. He arrived, he sat down and, the moment he sat down, the policemen starting shooting. He managed to escape by jumping out the window. The other two, however, took their guns and responded and got killed.”
Belgium: More arrests at home and abroad
Aside from El Bali, five Belgian nationals have been charged with participation in a terrorist organization in connection with the Verviers raid, federal prosecutor Eric Van Der Sypt said. He said the terror cell planned to target police officers.
Other countries are helping Belgium nab suspected jihadists.
French authorities captured two suspects as they were trying to cross from France into Italy, Van Der Sypt said.
And on Sunday, Greek authorities arrested a 33-year-old Algerian man who was wanted in Belgium on charges of terrorist activity, Greek police said Monday. Belgium is requesting an extradition.
But Greece isn’t done yet; police there say they have made multiple arrests and are looking for more suspects.
ISIS: A threat to Europe from afar
Perhaps one of the greatest terror threats in Europe comes from ISIS, the radical Islamist group that has been trying to establish an Islamic state across Sunni swaths of Iraq and Syria.
ISIS is suspected of running large training facilities in Syria and has access to thousands of potential European recruits.
Several European nations, including the United Kingdom, France, Belgium and the Netherlands, have helped launch airstrikes against ISIS in Iraq.
In retaliation, ISIS has ordered operatives to return to Europe to launch attacks on their home soil, a senior European counterterrorism official said.
