Morocco’s Judicial Police and territorial surveillance agents apprehended four individuals early Tuesday morning suspected of being affiliated with ISIS and allegedly preparing to carry out serious terrorist activities to undermine security and stability in the Kingdom.
The judicial police arrested the suspects, aged between 25 and 32, in Tangier, Tetouan, Inzegane, and Ait Melloul.
Searches of the suspects’ houses allegedly turned up electronic equipment and weapons, as well as documents related to “ISIS” ideology, group action in the Sahel zone, and a call for supporters to fight in its ranks, and a leaflet addressing secret recruitment rules adopted by terrorist organizations, according to the territory surveillance department.
The suspects who are believed to have sworn allegiance to the claimed successor to ISIS allegedly have stated their intention to carry out terrorist acts targeting important facilities and security institutions as part of a “lone wolf” strategy.
One of the suspects apparently trained in hilly and woodland regions in preparation for the launch of a terrorist plot.
The police say the suspects attempted to join an IS affiliate in the Sahel-Sahara region before changing their plans instead to engage in subversive action inside Morocco to further the terrorist organization’s agenda.
The suspects were remanded into police custody pending further investigation by the public prosecutor’s office. The police are also monitoring possible interactions and associations with terrorist organizations outside Morocco.