Moroccan security authorities, represented by the Central Bureau of Judicial Investigations under the General Directorate of Territorial Surveillance, on Monday foiled highly dangerous terrorist plots that were in advanced stages of preparation and targeted serious disruption of public order and the security of persons and property.
The General Directorate stated, in a communiqué published by the Maghreb Arab Press Agency, that special forces units carried out simultaneous intervention and arrest operations in the cities of Agadir, Taroudant, Casablanca, El Hajeb, Tetouan, Fkih Ben Salah, and Safi, acting on precise intelligence. The operations resulted in the arrest of 10 extremists who were operating in logistical coordination and operational support with the ISIS terrorist organisation's branch in the African Sahel region. Among those arrested are a former detainee held under anti-terrorism law and a minor.
Searches of the detainees' homes and a warehouse in the city of Inzegane led to the seizure of bladed weapons, military clothing, manuscripts, and chemical materials for assembling explosive devices, in addition to recordings of pledges of allegiance to the terrorist organisation. Authorities also impounded a four-wheel-drive vehicle whose fuel tank had been covertly modified for use in a suicide bombing or a ramming attack against sensitive targets and installations, along with gas canisters and pressure cookers packed with nails and connected to electrical wires.
Investigations revealed that cell members had pledged allegiance to ISIS and received direct instructions from its leaders in the Sahel and Sahara region to carry out a subversive agenda inside Morocco. The cell's "emir" had assigned roles for surveillance and equipment procurement. Interrogations of the detainees are currently being deepened under the supervision of the public prosecutor's office responsible for terrorism cases, in order to uncover all their national and international connections and networks.