(AGENPARL) – gio 06 ottobre 2022 6 October 2022
General Secretariat
| 200 Quai Charles de Gaulle |69006 Lyon | France
Facebook
/INTERPOLHQ
Twitter
ERPOL_HQ |
YouTube
INTERPOLHQ |
http://www.interpol.int
Page
First INTERPOL
AFRIPOL counter terrorism operation
Detecting travellers as potential terrorists at African borders
LYON, France
A counter terrorism operation coordinated by INTERPOL and AFRIPOL has enabled frontline police
terrorists and seize dangerous and prohibited goods.
The pan
African operation codenamed “FLASH
PACT”, aimed at strengthening the ability of border officers
ace in two phases
Using INTERPOL’s global criminal databases for wanted people, stolen travel and identity documents, and
criminals trying to cross regional borders.
Operation FLASH PACT: intelligence
led, collaborative and strategic
Underlining the need for a pan
African, multi
stakeholder effort against terrorism, the operation involved
police, customs, border forces and
counter
terrorism experts, including INTERPOL Regional Counter
Terrorism
Nodes in Abidjan and Nairobi.
Participating countries focus
ed their operations at airports, seaports, land border crossings and a range of
identified terrorist hotspots.
Ahead of tactical operations, investigators collected and examined data to establish a clear threat picture on
regional terrorism using globally sourced data from INTERPOL’s 195 member countries.
Stronger borders, stronger national security
With stolen tra
from conflict zones, the operation saw INTERPOL’s databases queried more than six million times, resulting in some
400 hits on INTERPOL’s travel and identit
y documents database.
Access to INTERPOL databases at border control points saw nine people flagged as Red Notice subjects. An
INTERPOL Red Notice is a request to law enforcement worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest a person pending
extradition, s
urrender, or similar legal action.
Highlighting how terrorist activity often converges with other crime areas, more than 20 people were
identified as wanted by INTERPOL for a wide range of serious crimes including fraud, money laundering, drugs and
wildl
ife trafficking.
One man was flagged as the subject of an INTERPOL
United Nations Security Council (UNSS) Special Notice
which alerts the global law enforcement community to individuals that are subject to sanctions imposed by the
UNSS. The three most com
6 October 2022
Page
Several INTERPOL Blue Notice subjects were detected attempting to cross borders in the participating
countries. A Blue Notice serves to collect additional information about a person’s identity
, location or activities in
relation to a crime.
“Western and Eastern Africa have seen increased terrorism in the past decade. This is quickly spreading its
devastating impact southwards, causing death, fear and destruction
a devastation for African com
munities and
economies,” said INTERPOL’s Executive Director of Police Services Stephen Kavanagh.
“Counter
terrorism operations like FLASH
PACT are clear evidence of the joint commitment AFRIPOL
INTERPOL partnership as it allows us to share expertise on loc
methods, motives and financing and ultimately identify and arrest those who chose to spread terror,” added

Mr Kavanagh.
mbique police
authorities arrested a man in possession of an AK
47 assault weapon, two magazines and 51 rounds of ammunition.
More than 250 travellers were arrested for attempted
illegal immigration, and several stolen luxury vehicles
were recovered in Tanzania.
A powerful partnership
INTERPOL, AFRIPOL and the African Union work side by side on matters of joint interest, sharing resources
and expertise, and developing combined re
sponses to Africa’s policing needs.
“As a regional police organization, AFRIPOL provides a framework for police cooperation at the strategic,
tactical and operational levels in all African states, helping us build stronger, meaningful capabilities for Afr
ican law
enforcement through our partnership with INTERPOL,” said AFRIPOL’s Acting Executive Director, Ambassador Jalel
Chelba.
“It is important to underline the role of joint operations such as FLASH
PACT in enhancing cooperation and
security for African
countries. INTERPOL’s support has enabled the sharing of intelligence information which leads
to a greater security through arrests and seizures,” added Ambassador Chelba.
Operation FLASH
PACT is the first counter
terrorism operation organized by the two
police Organizations
since the establishment of AFRIPOL by the African Union in 2014.
The operation was coordinated with the help of INTERPOL’s Support Programme for the African Union (ISPA)
which assists AFRIPOL in developing its strategic framework and
operational functions across the continent and in
fighting transnational crime and terrorism with INTERPOL and other regional policing bodies.
Djibouti, Kenya, Mozambique, Rwanda, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda took part in Phase one of
Operation FLAS
PACT from 14
18 July. Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Benin, Burkina Faso, Congo (DRC) and Nigeria
carried out their leg of the operation during Phase 2 from 4
8 September.