Moroccan police, working in collaboration with Spanish authorities, broke up a network suspected of recruiting fighters for ISIS, Spain said Thursday. Spain's Interior Ministry said in a statement that nine people - all Moroccan citizens, some with strong ties to Spain - were arrested, and that plans for attacks within Morocco has also been found.
"The dismantled network was dedicated to the recruitment, financial support and dispatch of jihadists for the terrorist organisation" of the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), the ministry said. Those arrested in Morocco on Thursday had sent recruits to be trained in weapon use, assembly and handling of explosives, to work alongside suicide bombers or as combatants in Syria or Iraq, according to the ministry. ISIS has extended its area of control in a push across northern Iraq. This month two young Spanish women, one of them under 18, were arrested in the Spanish North African enclave of Melilla on suspicion of trying to join an ISIS cell in the Middle East.
In-Depth
- Yazidi Refugees' Fear Still Raw and Fate Unclear in Iraq
- U.S. Forces in Iraq See Less Need for Mount Sinjar Evacuation