It was an operation that required collaboration between intelligence services in several countries, and one that showed that, despite the fall of their "caliphate" in 2019, members of the Islamic State (IS) organization are still seeking to establish themselves in other regions far from their Syrian and Iraqi strongholds – including Africa as well as Europe.

Late on July 28, according to information acquired by Le Monde, an Ivorian anti-terrorist unit, acting on US intelligence, conducted a raid on a residence in Koumassi, a suburb of Abidjan. Two Syrian cousins, Maher A. and Salim A., along with an Iraqi man and his son, Mohamed W. and Ahmad W., were arrested that same evening.

In the apartment, which belonged to the A. cousins, the unit seized forged papers and about 30 SIM cards. The two men, one of whom had recently obtained an Albanian visa fraudulently, were planning to travel to Europe soon. Two of their alleged accomplices in Côte d'Ivoire, a Syrian and an Iraqi national who had helped them enter the country, were arrested a few days later.

Meanwhile, Hassan A., another cousin of Maher A. and Salim A., was arrested by Madagascan security services in Antanarivo in the company of an Iraqi national. This time, support for the operation came from the French Directorate-General for External Security (DGSE). Like his family members in Abidjan, Hassan A. had wanted to go to Europe.

All these individuals had been under surveillance for several months by US and French intelligence services due to their links with the Islamic State organization. They comprised a network of people who facilitated the acquisition of false papers and travel documents for IS members. Their objective, according to a security source close to the case, was to relocate IS "brothers" to other regions, especially Europe.

Handed over to US authorities

In Abidjan, the six suspects were questioned by Ivorian and US intelligence services, who suspected them of, among other things, involvement in a planned attack on the Paris Olympics. However, French investigators remained more skeptical of this theory. After several weeks of questioning, they were handed over to US authorities, who chartered a special flight to pick them up in Côte d'Ivoire. According to an official US source, they were then transferred to Iraq and handed over to local security services.

For the Ivorian authorities, who typically deal with Sahelian jihadists from Mali or Burkina Faso with links to Al-Qaeda, the case is all the more serious as it confirms, for the first time, the presence of IS elements from the Middle East on their soil. The same applies to authorities in Madagascar, who have already dealt with potential incursions by IS members active in Mozambique's Cabo Delgado province, just across the channel.

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