Rabat - The younger brother of the ‘mastermind’ behind the Paris attacks was arrested in Morocco last month, a security source told Reuters.
Rabat – The younger brother of the ‘mastermind’ behind the Paris attacks was arrested in Morocco last month, a security source told Reuters.
Yassine Abaaoud, the younger brother of the suspected ISIS mastermind who coordinated the terrorist attacks that rocked the world, was arrested after he arrived in the southern coastal city of Agadir, his father’s hometown.
Belgian militant 28 year-old Abdelhamid Abaaoud was reported to be killed in the Saint Denis raid conducted on Wednesday in Paris in response to the attacks that killed 129 people.
According to the same source, Yassine Abaaoud was arrested when his plane landed and has been in custody ever since. Reuters reports the source did not give further details and the nature to his arrest remains unclear.
This news comes after it was reported that Moroccan intelligence services played a key role in helping French authorities locate the two terrorists who were killed in the Saint Denis raid, where Abdelhamid was killed.
Four Moroccan security services representatives were also in Paris on Tuesday in a meeting with the heads of judicial police, a French police source said.
On Monday, four people were arrested in Morocco after terrorist cell affiliated with ISIS was dismantled in Beni Mellal by Moroccan authorities.
The North African country has long played a central role in aiding the fight against terrorism by providing and sharing information with other intelligence organizations. With Morocco’s help, several terrorist attacks were thwarted in a number of European countries, such as France and Spain.
Morocco’s role in the fight against terrorism was highlighted by a number of French politicians last January following the Charlie Hebdo attacks, which killed 17 people.
It has been reported that about 1,500 Moroccan nationals are fighting alongside ISIS in Syria and Iraq.
Morocco’s king is currently in France and is expected to meet President Francois Hollande later on Friday.
