Disturbances in Melilla after security forces detain man recruiting for IS

Police in the Spanish enclave of Melilla on the north coast of Africa on Wednesday detained a man accused of indoctrinating and recruiting women for combat sites controlled by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.

The man arrested recorded multi-media messages with the aim of indoctrinating possible IS recruits, mainly targeting women. He also recorded sermons, urging possible recruits to only follow Sharia law, not have contact with non-believers and to reject any government other than the Caliphate.

This is the second operation against terrorism in Melilla in the past five months after two people were detained in February on similar charges.

Worryingly, Wednesday's police operation was marked by fact that youngsters in the area provoked a short clash with the police, insulting the agents, throwing rocks at their vehicles and attempting to attack reporters covering the operation. The electricity supply to the neighborhood was also sabotaged leaving it without street lights for a period.

The arrest took place a day after the General Director of Spain's Civil Guard, Fernandez de Mesa, calculated that around 100 Spaniards had abandoned their homeland in order to join IS.

He highlighted that what made many of these "recruits" different was the fact that many of them were females, who were not destined for combat, but who aimed to marry fighters and live in the regions controlled by extremists.

Fernandez de Mesa said the phenomenon was on the increase, pointing out that in the first seven months of the year 48 people have been arrested in 13 operations against extremists, while 46 people were arrested in 2014 in similar operations. Endit