Morocco Busts Terror Cell, Foils ‘Dangerous’ Terrorist Attacks

Moroccan authorities have foiled “dangerous” terrorist attacks after dismantling, Thursday, a terror cell composed of 10 people, including a French national, and seizing weapons and ammunition, the Interior ministry said.

The dismantling of this terrorist cell, whose members were active in the cities of Essaouira, Meknès and Sidi Kacem, was based on “precise tip-offs”, the Ministry pointed out in a statement.

During this operation, the police arrested the mastermind of this cell in a “safe house” in the city of Al Jadida, and seized 4 machine guns, 3 revolvers, an automatic pistol, a rifle, and important quantities of ammunition and 13 teargas bombs, the statement noted.

During this operation, the police also seized 4 expandable batons, an electric Taser, 6 plastic bottles containing chemical products which could be used to make explosives, a flag of the so-called “Islamic State”, in addition to bladed weapons and military uniforms, according to the same source.

The ministry underlined that the group was planning to carry out a series of terrorist operations against sensitive institutions at the instigation of ISIS leaders, adding that in order to achieve their terrorist scheme, the group was planning to recruit other extremists with the aim to launch a guerrilla war under effective and ground supervision of “ISIS” militants, among which one who is currently in Turkey.

The investigations revealed that the group had recruited a teenager to carry out a suicide car bomb attack, and was planning to recruit more teenagers, the same source added.

According to the statement, the dismantlement of this terrorist network comes in the wake of threats from Moroccan ISIS fighters to return to Morocco and undermine its security and stability.

The continued efforts made by security services clearly demonstrate their strong determination to combat terrorist threat and stifle extremist groups, the same source said, pointing out that these efforts have led to the dismantlement of 152 terrorist cells since 2002, including 31 cells since 2013.