Italian Police Ops Target Terrorism Financing Ring

Armed police officers stand on duty in Florence, Italy September 22, 2017. REUTERS/Max Rossi
Armed police officers stand on duty in Florence, Italy September 22, 2017. REUTERS/Max Rossi
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Italian Police Ops Target Terrorism Financing Ring

Armed police officers stand on duty in Florence, Italy September 22, 2017. REUTERS/Max Rossi
Armed police officers stand on duty in Florence, Italy September 22, 2017. REUTERS/Max Rossi

Italian anti-terrorism police have launched operations across the country in the hunt for 14 suspects linked to a network supporting militants in Syria.

Prosecutors said Thursday that police have served arrest warrants for four suspected militants, one Syrian and three Moroccans, in Sardinia; and elsewhere in the country for 10 Syrians suspected of money laundering and other financial crimes linked to terror financing.

Police were searching 20 homes in three northern Italian regions and on Sardinia.

Italy's top anti-terror prosecutor Federico Cafiero de Raho told Sky TG24 that the suspects belong to a single cell that was "collecting and distributing considerable funds to Syria to support the war."

He said all were legal residents of Italy.

Police video showed officers exercising the arrest warrants in the pre-dawn hours. It was not immediately clear how many people had been so far taken into custody.



Blast at Los Angeles Sheriff's Facility Leaves 3 Dead

A Los Angeles County sheriff's officer stands watch as a police vehicle passes by, while officers block the road to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department's Biscailuz Center Academy Training facility,in East Los Angeles, California, US July 18, 2025. REUTERS/ Mike Blake
A Los Angeles County sheriff's officer stands watch as a police vehicle passes by, while officers block the road to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department's Biscailuz Center Academy Training facility,in East Los Angeles, California, US July 18, 2025. REUTERS/ Mike Blake
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Blast at Los Angeles Sheriff's Facility Leaves 3 Dead

A Los Angeles County sheriff's officer stands watch as a police vehicle passes by, while officers block the road to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department's Biscailuz Center Academy Training facility,in East Los Angeles, California, US July 18, 2025. REUTERS/ Mike Blake
A Los Angeles County sheriff's officer stands watch as a police vehicle passes by, while officers block the road to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department's Biscailuz Center Academy Training facility,in East Los Angeles, California, US July 18, 2025. REUTERS/ Mike Blake

An explosion at a Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department training facility has killed three deputies, local media reported on Friday, though officials have yet to confirm any deaths.

A spokesperson for the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department said an explosion occurred at the Biscailuz Center Academy Training in East Los Angeles. The spokesperson said the cause was under investigation and that they were not yet ready to confirm any deaths or injuries, Reuters reported.

The Los Angeles Times newspaper, citing unnamed law enforcement sources, reported that three deputies were killed in the blast, which took place when a bomb squad moved some explosives.

Hilda Solis, who serves on the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, said in a written statement that "my heart goes out to the families, friends, and colleagues of the three individuals who lost their lives in what appears to have been a devastating explosion."

US Attorney General Pam Bondi wrote on social media that she had spoken with Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna along with US Attorney for the Central District of California Bill Essayli "about what appears to be a horrific incident that killed at least three at a law enforcement training facility in Los Angeles."

Bondi said that federal agents were at the scene and working to learn more.