Tunisian, Gambian terror suspects expelled from Italy

Rome, June 22 (IANS/AKI) Italian authorities deported a Tunisian supporter of the Islamic State jihadist group and a Gambian Muslim extremist "for reasons of state security", the Interior Ministry said on Wednesday.

The 34-year-old Tunisian was expelled aboard a flight from Rome's Fiumicino airport after police detained him at his home in the Tuscan coastal city of Piombino, according to the ministry.

His expulsion came after he shared IS images and propaganda videos on his Facebook page, according to Italian intelligence services who monitored his Internet use, the ministry said.

The Gambian was deported after he was held by police on January 19 in the southern city of Foggia for damaging a shrine to the Virgin Mary at a local church and setting fire to a nativity scene, the ministry stated.

The suspect was detained and monitored in prison after his arrest and was transferred to an expulsion centre in the Sicilian city of Caltanissetta in early May, the interior ministry said.

A total of 54 religious extremists have been deported from Italy this year and 186 since January 2015, according to the government.

--IANS/AKI

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