Polish authorities have detained a Russian citizen of Chechen origin suspected of being involved in terrorism, officials said on Thursday.

The man was detained on November 28 after a joint operation by Poland’s Internal Security Agency (ABW) and police.

The agency said evidence indicated the man "was a member of terrorist organisations operating in Turkey and Syria."

The ABW added that he also took an active part in military activities by the so-called Islamic State in the Middle East.

It named the suspect only as “Alvi A.”

The ABW said it had "identified Alvi A. as a member of a group providing logistic support to terrorist organisations. In Poland, the detainee maintained contacts with other extremists, some of whom had already been expelled to their country of origin."

The agency added: “On top of that, Alvi A. was a suspect in a criminal investigation into allegations of organizing illegal immigration.”

Polish anti-terror laws have been praised as a model for creating legislation in other EU and NATO countries.

The Polish public television broadcaster’s tvp.info website reported on Tuesday that the Polish law had been singled out by an official at the European Centre of Excellence for Countering Hybrid Threats (Hybrid CoE).

(pk/gs)

Source: PAP