In a continuous effort to counteract the risks posed by terrorist threats, the Moroccan Central Office for Judicial Research, based on intelligence provided by the General Directorate for National Territory Surveillance, managed to arrest four individuals, aged between 25 and 32 years, in the early hours of Thursday.
The arrests were made on suspicion of involvement in the preparation of serious terrorist projects aimed at undermining the security and stability of the Kingdom of Morocco.
According to a statement from the General Directorate for National Territory Surveillance, its special forces initiated intervention and detention procedures in separate operations targeting the suspects’ locations in the cities of Tangier, Tetouan, and Inezgane Ait Melloul.
The searches conducted at the homes of the detainees led to the discovery of electronic equipment, bladed weapons, documents reflecting the ideology of “ISIS,” a manuscript outlining the methods for joining the organization’s camps in the Sahel region south of the Sahara, as well as a collection of images documenting terrorist attacks carried out by the factions of this organization.
Moreover, there was a call to encourage their supporters to fight within its ranks, along with a publication outlining the rules of the secretive activities followed by terrorist organizations.
Preliminary information from the investigation indicates that the suspects, who had allegedly sworn allegiance to the presumed caliph of the “ISIS” organization, were determined to carry out terrorist projects targeting vital facilities and security institutions within the framework of “lone wolf” terrorist operations.
It is also stated that one of the suspects underwent training in mountainous and wooded areas in preparation for embarking on his terrorist plan.
Initial information from the investigation, according to the same source, suggests that one of the suspects attempted to join one of the branches of the “ISIS” organization, particularly in the Sahel and desert region, before changing his mind to engage in subversive activities within the homeland to serve the agenda of this terrorist organization.
The four individuals in custody have been placed under the supervision of the custody of the Central Office for Judicial Research for the purpose of disclosing all their terrorist schemes and projects, tracking possible intersections and connections with terrorist organizations outside Morocco.