Police in Spain detain 4 in operation against Jihadist recruitment

The Spanish Interior Ministry confirmed on Tuesday that Civil Guards have arrested a total of four people in an operation against a network suspected of indoctrinating and recruiting fighters for the Islamic State.

Two people were arrested in the Spanish enclave of Melilla on the north coast of Morocco, while a further arrest was made in Barcelona and another in Girona, in the north of the Catalan region in northeast Spain.

Those arrested in Melilla are accused of having created various Internet platforms which they used to spread jihadist propaganda.

The Interior Ministry informed their websites had over 1,000 followers.

The pair also worked to recruit women to the Jihadist cause and not only spread propaganda over the Internet, but also held meeting in private houses where they showed the most recent Islamic State videos with the aim of indoctrinating possible recruits.

Authorities highlighted that some of their "recruits" had begun preparing to travel to zones controlled by the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq.

The two people arrested in Catalonia worked independently, but had connections with the two people arrested in Melilla through Facebook, as well as having links to people outside of Spain, especially in Latin America.

One of those detained worked in distributing on-line videos to aid with recruitment, while the second is described as someone who became radicalized themselves after viewing pro-jihad propaganda.

This is the latest in a string of operations carried out against groups dedicated to recruiting radical fighters in Spain in recent months. The majority of those arrested are from the enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla, but several arrests have also been on the Spanish mainland, in cities such as Almeria, Murcia and Barcelona. Endit