File image. (Maghreb Arabe Press)
Morocco announced on July 6 that it had foiled “terrorist plots” and arrested suspects in seven cities on suspicion of belonging to a cell affiliated with ISIS.
In a statement, the Central Bureau of Judicial Investigations, which operates under the General Directorate for Territorial Surveillance, said that it thwarted “terrorist plots” that aimed at seriously undermining public order and the safety of people and property.
Ten suspects were arrested in coordinated operations in the cities of Agadir, Taroudant, Tetouan, El Hajeb, Fquih Ben Salah, Casablanca and Safi “on suspicions of receiving support and guidance from the ISIS branch” in the Sahel region, according to the bureau, which noted that the arrested include a former terrorism convict and a minor.
The bureau added that the suspects “had received direct instructions and communications from leaders of the ISIS’s Sahel branch ordering them to remain in Morocco to carry out the group’s agenda while postponing plans to travel to the group’s strongholds abroad.”
Military-style clothing, extremist writings containing detailed instructions for assembling explosive devices, digital storage devices and visual materials, including two recordings containing pledges of allegiance to ISIS and explicit threats to carry out attacks inside Morocco, were seized, in addition to bladed weapons and equipment that the bureau said were intended for use in the attack plans.
In the city of Inezgane, a sport utility vehicle whose fuel tank had been modified at a clandestine workshop to operate on butane gas was found. The bureau said that the vehicle was intended for use in a suicide bombing or vehicle-ramming attack targeting sensitive facilities.
The investigation is being conducted under the supervision of Morocco’s prosecutor for terrorism cases. Work is underway to determine the cell’s links to ISIS’s Sahel branch and identify any national or international connections, according to the bureau.
ISIS maintains a highly active affiliate in the Sahel — the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara —, which operates across Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger. This regional branch also serves as a command base that actively coordinates and directs terror plots in Morocco.
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