Spanish police detain two extremists

Spanish police confirmed on Tuesday that two people have been arrested in northern Spain for alleged links to the Islamic State.

The arrests took place in the cities of Gijon and San Sebastian, with the man detained in Gijon described as a Spanish citizen of Moroccan origin. He is accused of swearing allegiance to ISIS leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, and used encrypted phone lines in order to try and avoid detection.

The man arrested in San Sebastian was a Spanish resident with a Moroccan background and is thought to have been in contact with fellow radicals in the Basque Region.

The arrests come on the same day as the Spanish Civil Guards confirmed their role in a major international operation which has led to the arrest of 109 people and the seizure of 100 tons of hashish, 11,400 weapons, bullets and 10 tons of explosives from a Syrian run network supplying insurgents in Libya.

Spain, Italy, France and Greek security forces took part in the operation which was directed by Europol and with the collaboration of the United States' Drug Enforcement Administration.

The Civil Guard played a key role in the operation, having discovered 36 tons of hashish, as well as detaining one of the network's key members. A total of 14 Spanish nationals are among the 109 people detained in the operation. Endit