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Join on Telegram Rabat – Morocco’s Central Bureau of Judicial Investigation (BCIJ) arrested today two suspects for their alleged affiliation to an ISIS terrorist cell.
BCIJ arrested the suspects, both aged 23, in two separate operations in Benguerir and Douar Sidi Kroum, two towns in the Marrakech-Safi region.
The two suspects had pledged loyalty to the alleged emir of ISIS and started sharing extremist content to recruit more people for terror related activities, said a statement from BCIJ.
During the arrest operation, BCIJ seized mobile phones, a collection of publications with extremist content issued by ISIS, and masks the suspects were planning to use to conceal their identities when attacking their targets.
Preliminary investigation shows that one of the arrested suspects was praising criminal operations targeting financial and banking institutions.
The suspect also “praised the intetnional and attempted murder recently committed by a person showing signs of mental disorder in the city of Tiznit and Agadir,” noted BCIJ’s statement.
On January 15, a 31-year old man killed a 79-year-old French tourist in Tiznit and attacked two t other tourists in the city of Agadir in a murder attempt.
Police arrested the suspect, and preliminary investigations later confirmed that the man had symptoms of mental disorders. But the investigation is still ongoing on the Tiznit and Agadir cases.
BCIJ concluded its statement by saying that it put the two suspects in custody for further investigation to shine further light on the circumstances of the case.
The investigation also seeks to determine links of the two arrested persons to regional and international terror organizations and to identify their speific targets in their project toundermine Morocco’s safety and security.
The arrest of the two suspects comes as part of Morocco’s proactive approach against terrorism.
Recent data from BCIJ notes that the North African country has dismanted 2,009 terror cells since 2002.
During the same period, Moroccan security services arrested over 3, 353 people for their alleged involvement in terrorist activities and aborted over 500 “bloody” terrorist plots.
