The Moroccan and Spanish police dismantled this Friday a terrorist cell affiliated with the Sahel branch of the jihadist organization Islamic State (Daesh)in a joint operation that has led to the arrest of nine people.
Three of those arrested have been detained in Tetouan and Castillejos (Fnideq) and six in Madrid, Ibiza and Ceuta, as reported this Friday by the Central Office of Judicial Investigation of Morocco (BCIJ, anti-terrorist body) in a statement collected by the official agency. MAP.
In the operation, they have been carried out home records of the detainees, in which the agents have seized knives and computer equipment, the note explains. According to preliminary investigations, some of those investigated had been arrested in terrorism cases in Spain and held meetings in Ceuta and Tetouan to plan terrorist acts on behalf of the Islamic State before becoming part of the branch of this terrorist organization in the African region of the Sahel.
The statement indicates that the people detained in African territory have been placed in police custody under the supervision of the Moroccan Prosecutor’s Office. This measure has been taken with the objective of clarify possible internal and external ramifications of the cell, as well as their degree of involvement in the terrorist acts they planned.
The note from the Moroccan BCIJ (Central Office of Judicial Investigation), dependent on the General Directorate of Territorial Surveillance (DGST, intelligence), indicates that the operation “is part of the continuous and distinguished coordination between Moroccan security services and their Spanish counterparts to confront terrorist threats that threaten the security of the two kingdoms.