MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentina says terrorist cell in Mendoza deactivated

“They were planning attacks in Mendoza,” Bullrich said

Argentine authorities last week dismantled what was believed to be an “Islamist” terrorist cell planning to attack Jewish community sites in the province of Mendoza and arrested seven suspects in the process, some trying to cross over to Chile and others at the Ezeiza International Airport in Buenos Aires.

”In eight raids the PFA (Argentine Federal Police) dismantled a dangerous organization linked to a radical Islamic terrorist group,“ Security Minister Patricia Bullrich said on X. ”They were planning attacks in Mendoza,” she added after firearms such as shotguns, rifles, and revolvers were seized in addition to knives, daggers, and katanas as well as electronic devices, including cell phones and computers.

The group was said to have posted anti-Christian and anti-Jewish messages on Telegram and WhatsApp, together with content linked to the Islamic State (ISIS) and the Taliban Emirate of Afghanistan.

The identities of those apprehended were not released.

Argentina is home to Latin America's largest Jewish community. In the 1990s two bombing attacks were perpetrated against Jewish targets in Buenos Aires. In 1992, 22 people were killed when a bomb went off at the Israeli embassy, while 85 people died in 1994 in the explosion at the Argentine-Israeli Mutual Association (AMIA) headquarters.