As part of joint and simultaneous security operations between Moroccan and Spanish authorities, the Central Bureau of Judicial Investigations (BCIJ), affiliated with Morocco’s General Directorate for Territorial Surveillance, and the General Commissariat for Information of the Spanish National Police successfully dismantled a terrorist cell loyal to ISIS in the Sahel region on Friday. The cell consisted of nine members, including three operating in Tetouan and Fnideq, and six others in Madrid, Ibiza, and Ceuta.
According to a statement from the BCIJ, searches conducted at the suspects’ residences resulted in the seizure of bladed weapons and electronic equipment, which will undergo necessary digital forensic examinations.
Initial investigations revealed that the suspects, some of whom are former terrorism convicts in Spain, were promoting ISIS ideology and holding meetings in Ceuta and Tetouan to plan and coordinate terrorist acts in the name of ISIS before joining the group’s branch in the Sahel region south of the Sahara Desert.
The detainees from Tetouan and Fnideq have been placed in custody under the supervision of the specialized public prosecutor’s office for terrorism and extremism cases to investigate their domestic and international connections, as well as their level of involvement in the planned terrorist projects of this cell.
The statement emphasized that this joint operation falls within the framework of continuous and exemplary security coordination between Moroccan and Spanish security agencies to counter terrorist threats endangering the safety of both nations.
