Spain: Three Moroccans held in Madrid on terror charges

By Alyssa McMurtry

MADRID

Three Moroccan men were arrested in Madrid Tuesday morning for allegedly forming a terrorist cell linked with Daesh and planning attacks in Spain, Spanish Interior Minister Jorge Fernandez Diaz said.

In a radio interview with Cadena Ser, Diaz said that the three Moroccan origin men were between the ages of 26 and 29, and had Spanish residency.

The minister claimed that the suspects planned to carry out attacks in Spain.

“Those detained did not dedicate themselves to find, indoctrinate and radicalize people to send them to Syria or Iraq, instead their objective was to act in Spain,” he said.

According to a statement from the Spanish Interior Ministry, the group leader allegedly focused on spreading the word of Daesh and developed terrorist training methods. The other two suspects were accused of being “in charge of carrying out terrorist acts”.

One of those detained was said to be based in a Madrid neighborhood where drugs and illegal weapons could be obtained easily.

The interior minister said that Spain was on high alert for terrorist attacks, specifically at level four out of five. The level was increased last June after assailants attacked a Spanish-owned hotel in Tunisia that left 37 people dead.

With Tuesday’s arrests included, 60 people have been detained in Spain this year on terrorism charges; 27 more have been arrested elsewhere, primarily in Morocco, related to Daesh’s alleged operations in Spain, according to the Interior Ministry.