Police seize 20,000 uniforms bound for Islamic State

MADRID: Spanish authorities on Thursday announced the seizure of about 20,000 military uniforms that were being shipped from Spanish ports to fighters with the Islamic State and other Islamist groups, according to the Interior Ministry.

The uniforms were part of a shipment declared as “secondhand clothing” to pass through customs, the ministry said, and were hidden inside three shipping containers intercepted in the ports of Valencia and Algeciras. Some other military accessories were also seized.

The ministry said the seizure was linked to the arrest in early February of seven people accused of operating a logistical support network that provided military equipment to the Islamic State as well as the al-Nusra Front, a branch of al-Qaeda operating in Syria.

The Spanish authorities on Thursday released a video showing a large pile of seized camouflage clothing. A spokesman for the Interior Ministry later said that the uniforms were not made in Spain and that an investigation was still under way to determine where they came from. It was unclear whether the uniforms were intended to be used for specific operations.

Five of the seven people who were arrested last month were Spanish citizens. The police said at the time that they suspected that the network had been sending military equipment to Islamist fighters under the guise of shipments of humanitarian aid. The seven were arrested separately, in cities in eastern Spain as well as in Ceuta, a Spanish enclave in North Africa.

The police opened the containers with the uniforms on Wednesday. The Spanish authorities would not disclose the intended destination of the containers.