Alleged Islamic State (ISIS) operatives have been arrested after Spanish and Moroccan security services dismantled one of the group’s cells in a joint operation.
Nine alleged ISIS members were detained in the Moroccan towns of Tetouan and Castillejos while others were arrested in Madrid, Ibiza, and Ceuta in Spain. Three are now detained in Morocco while six are in Spain.
Arrests were made after the two countries’ security services raided homes and found bladed weapons and computer equipment.
Investigators said that the alleged ISIS operatives had held meetings in Ceuta and Tetouan in order to plan terror attacks on behalf of the group.
Morocco’s security services said that the operation “is part of the continuous and distinguished coordination between the Moroccan security services and their Spanish counterparts to deal with terrorist threats that threaten the security of the two kingdoms.”
The suspects were allegedly linked to the Sahel branch of ISIS.
This comes as a man was arrested in Melilla, an autonomous region of Spain that borders Morocoo, on Tueaday.
The man allegedly “followed the postulates of the Daesh terrorist organisation” and spread his “radical message selectively among the people around him.”
He was remanded in prison on Friday.
Last December, ten people were arrested for being a part of “a violent group dedicated to the recruitment and indoctrination of young people in the most radical postulates of Daesh.”
The arrests were made in Melilla and Morocco.
