Italian police arrest Palestinian suspected of planning chemical attack

Italian police arrested a man suspected of plotting a terror attack on the Mediterranean island of Sardinia.

The man, who held a Palestinian passport and had an Italian residency permit, was thought to have been plotting to poison public drinking water, the Jerusalem Post reported.

Police had been surveilling the 38-year-old suspect for some time and took him into custody Wednesday morning. He is thought to be affiliated with the Islamic State group.

“Security forces requested urgent precautionary measures due to the high risk of the suspected case, and a judge authorized an operation within a few hours,” the Post reported. “Special Italian security forces waited for the suspect to leave his home Wednesday morning and arrested him as soon as he entered his van. The security forces had first blockaded the entire area for public safety and to prevent the suspected terrorist from escaping.”

ISIS has been largely defeated on the battlefield in Iraq and Syria, but experts have been warning that the jihadist group still poses a threat for terror attacks around the world.