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1 in 3 extremists in Spain form part of groups able to carry out attacks

Xinhua, July 13, 2016 Adjust font size:

One in three extremists in Spain form part of cells or networks and are willing to carry out attacks in the country, according to a report published by Spain's prestigious think tank, the Elcano Royal Institute.

The report was drawn up by Fernando Reinares and Carola Garcia Calvo from the profiles of the 150 "jihadists" detained in Spain between 2013 and May of this year.

They discovered 86 percent of those arrested were members of Daesh (the Islamic State) with 94 percent of them working in conjunction with other people and just six percent acting individually as "lone wolves".

The institute's study shows that around three quarters of extremists previously had contact with Daesh, while the remainder were recruited as a result of seeing propaganda.

It also highlighted that although the Internet was an important source of radicalization, it was not the main source as most extremists became radicalized in mosques, cultural centers, and direct contact with other radicals, rather than by the Internet alone.

Perhaps the most worrying statistic is that 35 percent formed part of a "jihadist" cell or network that was willing to carry out attacks in Spain, while 65 percent had either traveled to fight in Syria and Iraq or had taken the decision to do so in the near future.

The study also drew up a profile of the typical "jihadist", describing them as someone who had joined the terrorist jihad due to religious motivation and were convinced they would receive a reward for their actions after they died.

The average extremist detained in Spain are men aged 31.6 years old, married with children and who works in the service sector or is unemployed.

A total of 30 percent have a secondary education while 10 percent have studied at university.

The women arrested are much younger (22.6 years of age) and tend to be single.

A total of 73.8 percent of those arrested became radicalized in Spain with the Spanish North African enclave of Ceuta, Barcelona, and Madrid the main centers of radicalization; 44 percent had a prior criminal record. Endit