Morocco, Spain dismantle terrorist cell

RABAT - Moroccan security forces on Tuesday dismantled a suspected terrorist cell in northern Morocco with links to the Islamic State group.

The FBI-like Central Bureau of Judicial Investigations (BCIJ) said 11 suspects of the terrorist cell, which was preaching online sermons between Nador and Melilla, were arrested.

The joint anti-terror operation was carried out within the framework of the distinguished cooperation relations between the Moroccan security services and their Spanish counterparts, a cooperation which stems from the common desire to strengthen the mechanisms of the fight against terrorism and extremism, and from the shared concern to neutralize all the risks and threats that threaten the security and safety of the two countries, said the BCIJ in a statement.

Two people, aged 34 and 39, were arrested in Nador and placed under the prosecutor’s custody while nine other suspects were arrested by Spanish authorities in Melilla, said the BCIJ.

“The members of this terrorist cell were active in spreading and promoting extremist ideology by broadcasting sermons and digital contents through information systems, or through direct communication, with the aim of recruiting and attracting people to join terrorist organisations,” it said.

“The suspects were widely spreading an extremist message of an inciting nature to join terrorist organisations,” it added.

The BCIJ said that the cell’s leader had links with a cell that was dismantled in December 2019 between Madrid and Nador, in a joint security operation between Morocco and Spain.