Dutch police, on Tuesday, said they had arrested a 47-year-old commander of the radical Islamist al-Nusra Front following a tip-off from their German counterparts.
According to NAN, six searches took place simultaneously in Germany and the Netherlands as part of a coordinated operation, though no other arrests were made.
“German police set in motion the investigation into the suspect, known by the nom de guerre Abu Khuder, as they had obtained incriminating statements against the Syrian national,’’ Dutch police said.
He was arrested in the town of Kapelle in the Zeeland region of the Netherlands’ south-west.
The man is suspected of having led a battalion of Al-Nusra militia during the Syrian civil war.
He has lived since 2014 as a refugee in the Netherlands.
He is to be brought before a judge at the court responsible for war crimes in The Hague.
Speaking in 2012 to British newspaper, The Guardian, Abu Khuder described his battalion members as specialists in explosives and car bombs.
“Our main talent is in the bombing operations,’’ he said.
The radical Islamist al-Nusra Front, which in the meantime has repeatedly changed its name, is one of the most important belligerents in the Syrian civil war.
Its goal is the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad and the establishment of Shariah law.
Previously affiliated to al-Qaida, the group has since officially renounced the association.
Germany’s federal public prosecutor estimates it to be connected with over 1,500 attacks and over 8,700 fatalities
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