Morocco’s Central Bureau of Judicial Investigations (BCIJ) uncovered today a mountainous area suspected to have been used by a terrorist cell as a logistical rear base.
The area contained weapons and ammunition BCIJ belonging to members of a recently dismantled ISIS-affiliated cell.
A statement from the National Police and National Tertotiral Surveillance Directorate (DGSN-DGST) said on Thursday that ongoing investigations identified the mountainous area through technical expertise and the satellite location identification process. The suspected area is located in the province of Errachidia.
BCIJ opened an investigation into a high-profile terror plot that sought to undermine Morocco’s stability on Wednesday when it foiled “a highly dangerous” terrorist plan.
The operation included the arrest of 12 suspects aged between 18 and 40 in simultaneous operations in the cities of Laayoune, Casablanca, Fez, Taza, Tangier, Azzemmour, Oulad Taima, and Tamsna on the outskirts of Rabat.
Inspections on the ground showed that the suspected area included a cache of firearms and ammunition buried in a secured location at the base of the rocky hill.
The operation required dog patrols trained in detecting explosives, metal detection mechanisms, devices for identifying suspicious material, and bomb detection robots.
Search operations in the region lasted approximately three hours.
The equipment seized was wrapped in plastic bags and newspapers printed in Mali, including publications dated January 27 of this year.
The seized firearms included two Kalashnikov rifles, two shotguns, ten individual handguns of different types, a large quantity of cartridges, and ammunition of different calibers.
After uncovering the area, police sealed the firearms and handed them to experts for technical investigations.
The DGSN-DGST statement said the ongoing investigations suggest that the weapons were snuggled into Morocco by a senior ISIS leader in the Sahel region.
The ISIS leader also sent the location coordinates to the dismantled terror cell team to collect the weapons and use them to carry out terrorist attacks.
Following the dismantling of the cell, Moroccan security services identified more materials on Wednesday, including an improvised explosive device that was still under assembly.
During the dismantling operation, security services also seized modified gas cylinders connected to mobile phones for remote detonation, as well as knives among other materials and chemicals.
