Several of the suspects have travelled to Iraq and Syria to fight alongside jihadist groups, police said.
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A spokesman from North East Counter Terrorism Unit said: “We understand people may be concerned following today’s arrests”.
A spokeswoman for the North East CTU said the four men would now appear before Westminster Magistrates’ Court.
Giovanni Governale of the Italian police’s Special Operations Group told journalists the operation had “dismantled an integrated cell that included – in addition to Italy – Britain, Norway, Finland, Switzerland and Germany”.
Six of them have been arrested in Italy, four in Britain and three in Norway.
La Repubblica adds, that the Europe-wide operation was codenamed JWEB, and it has resulted in the arrests of 17 Kurdish citizens and one Kosovar. The discrepancy couldn’t be immediately explained.
Italy’s Ansa news agency said the suspects were accused of worldwide terrorism association. It reportedly merged with the Islamic State group previous year. At least two died in the region.
“As the group evolved, it became active in providing logistical and financial support to recruiting foreign terrorist fighters to be sent to Syria and Iraq, also with the intent of training them for the future conflict in Kurdistan”.
Italian police said Najmaddin Faraj Ahmad, who was jailed in Norway last month for praising the Charlie Hebdo killings, was the ideological leader of the group.
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Norwegian media is reporting that a jailed Iraqi-born cleric and two others are being held on suspicion of their involvement in an alleged terror plot in Italy. He was also found guilty of urging others to kill a Kurdish immigrant in Norway in the same interview with Norwegian broadcaster NRK. The 59-year-old Kurd, who came to Norway as a refugee in 1991, was convicted in 2005 for a similar offense. Norway and the United States have accused Ahmad of financing Ansar al-Islam.
