Greek police arrest three men on terrorism charges on Turkish border

(Vatican Radio)  Police in Greece on Sunday arrested three men on terrorism charges, two of whom are a British citizens, on the main border crossing to Turkey carrying a large weapons cache.

Listen to John Carr's report:

The police in northern Greece have arrested three men suspected of being jihadis after large stocks of weapons and ammunition were found in their caravan trailers.

The vehicles were parked near the waterfront of Alexandroupolis, near the Turkish border.  Both were found to contain hundreds of thousands of rounds of ammunition and scores of assault rifles.

Two of the arrested men are reported to be British citizens of Iraqi extraction, and the third a Kurd.

Greece’s antiterrorism police are investigating whether the weaponry was destined for the Islamic State or for the Kurdish insurgency. 

Greece has been on the alert since last autumn when one of the perpetrators of the Paris massacres of 13 November was found to have entered the country disguised as a Syrian refugee.

Sunday’s arrests fuel suspicion that northern Greece could become a conduit for potential western-origin jihadis to get to the Middle East via Istanbul.