Morocco: Islamic State militants planned attacks on targets both within the country and abroad

Image: Jihad Watch

On Monday, Morocco’s counterterrorism agency announced it had thwarted attacks on both national and international targets by a 12-member cell loyal to the Islamic State in the Sahel. This operation highlights the growing threat posed by jihadist groups in the Sahel, with organizations linked to ISIS and al-Qaeda increasing their presence in Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger.

The suspects, aged between 18 and 40, were arrested across nine cities and had been receiving instructions from a Libyan leader of the Islamic State, according to Habboub Cherkaoui, head of Morocco's Central Bureau of Judicial Investigations. Cherkaoui also revealed that most of the suspects had been radicalized online and held "occasional jobs."

The group, calling themselves “the Lions of the Caliphate in the Maghreb Al Aqsa (Morocco),” had been planning bomb attacks using remote controls. During the operation, authorities uncovered explosive devices, chemicals, and a weapons stash, including automatic firearms and handguns, in the southeastern region of Errachidia near the Algerian border.

Cherkaoui further noted that, in recent years, ISIS branches in Africa have recruited over 130 Moroccan fighters. Since its formation in 2015, the Central Bureau of Judicial Investigations has dismantled dozens of militant cells and arrested more than 1,000 suspected jihadists.

(This Article was originally published by Jihad Watch)