BALI (Indonesia) (Sputnik) – Lack of the international exchange in biometric data prevents capture of militants traveling back from the conflict zones and foiling of their terrorist plots, International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) Secretary General Jurgen Stock said Wednesday.
“Although information shared via INTERPOL has enabled national law enforcement agencies to prevent numerous terrorists and aspiring foreign terrorist fighters from travelling, the lack of biometric data remains a weak link. Not providing frontline officers with the information they need to positively identify a terrorist returning from the conflict zones is making them work with one hand tied behind their back," Stock said addressing the 85th INTERPOL General Assembly.
INTERPOL estimates the number of fighters still within the conflict zones at 15,000.
The organization currently holds information on nearly 9,000 foreign terrorist fighter but only 10 percent of these files include biometric data.
