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The intelligence services of several European countries are in agreement: several groups fighting in Syria and tied to Al Qaeda have merged and are now acting "as a single army," reports Spanish daily El Mundo.
The newspaper says it was given access to "confidential documents from European intelligence services," and concludes that –
there is a fear among European secret services that the danger posed by these unified armed groups in Syria will spread to other countries. [...] In these documents, there is mention of an army which has the intention of extending the conflict beyond Syria's borders. There is mention of Palestine, Iraq, Chechnya, the Caucasus, Afghanistan... But the greatest fear is for Europe. It is suggested that the more radical terrorists might change continent and decide to target Europe.
Called the "Army of Emigrants and Freedom Fighters," the group is currently active around Aleppo. It is thought to be composed of a thousand jihadists from the northern Caucasus, Africa and Asia but also northern Europe. Their leader is a Chechen known as "Abu Omar al-Chechen".
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