Rabat - Moroccan authorities avoided a remake of the terrorist attacks that targeted Casablanca in May 2003.
Rabat – Moroccan authorities avoided a remake of the terrorist attacks that targeted Casablanca in May 2003.
Morocco’s Interior Ministry says that the Central Bureau of Judicial Investigations (BCIJ) have arrested a Chadian national affiliated with the Islamic State group and foiled a “dangerous” plot to attack Western diplomatic buildings and tourist sites.
The Moroccan newly created FBI-like Bureau of Investigations managed to arrest the suspect on Friday in a house in the northern city of Tangiers, after receiving “accurate” information.
The Interior Ministry said in a statement that the preliminary investigations revealed that the suspect flew to Morocco from Chad on May 4, landing at the Casablanca airport.
The statement added that the Chadian national was “recruited by ISIS to organize a terror cell comprised of Moroccans and Algerians to attack Western diplomatic buildings and tourist sites in Morocco.”
An Interior Ministry spokesman said that the suspect had already explored the targeted sites as part of his preparation to carried out the terrorist attacks.
The same source added that the scope of the threat posed by the plot was similar to the Casablanca bombings on May 16, 2003, which killed 33 people.
