Italian police detain a suspected member of an armed organisation inspired by al Qaeda, in this still image taken from a video released by Italian police on Friday.

ROME: Italian police said on Friday they were staging a "vast anti-terrorism" operation against an armed organisation inspired by al Qaeda whose members were ready to carry out attacks in Pakistan and Afghanistan.



A series of raids across the country was targeting 18 people, they said. Some had been arrested in Italy, including the group's suspected spiritual leader, but others were believed to have left the country.



The group had "an abundant amount of weapons and numerous faithful willing to carry out acts of terrorism in Pakistan and Afghanistan before returning to Italy," police said in one of a series of statements.



All the suspects are Pakistanis or Afghans, anti-terrorism police official Mario Carta told Reuters, adding that the operation was still in progress.



Some of the men arrested or being sought are suspected of involvement in the October 2009 bombing of the Meena Bazaar in Peshawar, which left more than 100 dead and over 200 people injured.



According to the Wall Street Journal, the group was in touch with the Taliban movement and top al Qaeda figures in Pakistan.



Wire tap recordings have led the specialist anti-terrorist unit which conducted the investigation to believe that two of them men arrested had been part of bin Laden's security detail at some point prior to the late al Qaeda leader's slaying by US special forces in Pakistan in May 2011.



The move followed a six-year investigation into an illegal immigration racket run from Sardinia, AFP reported.



According to Sardinian daily L'Unione Sarda the terror network was based out of the town of Olbia, and coordinated by a Pakistani in the construction business.



The arrest warrants accuse the suspects of belonging to "an organisation dedicated to transnational criminal activities inspired by Al Qaeda and other radical organisations pursuing armed struggle against the West and insurrection against the current government of Pakistan."



Police wiretaps had determined that two people among the 18 targeted by arrest warrants were suspected of being part of a group that had protected al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, who was killed by US special forces at his hideout in Abbottabad, Pakistan in 2011, a statement said.



The investigation, carried out by Italy's anti-terrorism DIGOS police branch, led to the arrest of an Imam in the northern city of Bergamo. He was suspected of being the spiritual leader of the group and had collected funds purportedly for religious purposes from Pakistanis and Afghans in Italy, police said.



The group supported the "armed struggle against the West", and wanted to incite a popular uprising against the Pakistani government so it would stop its backing of US forces in Afghanistan.



The United States has withdrawn most of its forces from Afghanistan. However, a relatively small number remains for training and special operations, while Washington is also carrying out drone strikes on Taliban militants.



The money was sent to Pakistan by members of the group who managed to avoid Italy's currency control regulations. In one case, 55,268 euros ($60,160) were carried to Pakistan on a flight from Rome to Islamabad.



But police said much of the money was moved through the trust-based transfer system known as hawala.



Most of the warrants centred on the Italian island of Sardinia, but the operation covered a total of seven Italian provinces, the statement said.



The organisation arranged for Pakistanis and Afghans to get into Italy under work contracts or as refugees seeking asylum and later sent some to cities in northern Europe, police said.