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Two Moroccans arrested in Barcelona suspected of Jihadism

Xinhua, November 19, 2016 Adjust font size:

Spain's Interior Ministry confirmed on Saturday that two Moroccan nationals who were "fully integrated into the terrorist organization DAESH (the Islamic State)" have been arrested in Barcelona.

The arrests took place in the early hours of Saturday morning and were confirmed in a press note which says the pair were "potentially dangerous, directed and controlled by DAESH and in a state of pre-activation to carry out terrorist attacks in Spain."

Meanwhile they were also active "in the use of the internet and social network sites with the aim of radicalizing, attracting and finally convincing new recruits for the terrorist cause," through the publication of "all kinds of radical content and propaganda aimed at causing terror in Western societies."

The ministry also highlights the duo operated in an individual and "decentralized" manner, forming "independent, but coordinated, terrorist cells which coincided in their aims."

They had also declared loyalty to DAESH and were living in a "state of total isolation" from their former contacts in the outside world.

The arrests bring the number of suspected jihadists detained in Spain to 163 since the country moved onto a high (level 4) state of terrorist alert on June 26, 2015, and they come 10 days after four people were arrested in the Spanish enclave of Ceuta on Nov. 9. Endit