Morocco foils attacks by cell loyal to Islamic State

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By Ahmed Eljechtimi

RABAT (Reuters) – Morocco’s counterterrorism agency said on Monday it had foiled attacks against national and international targets in the country by a 12-member cell loyal to Islamic State in the Sahel. The operation underscores the threat emanating from jihadist militancy in the Sahel, as groups linked to Islamic State and al Qaeda expand activity in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger.

The suspects, arrested in nine different cities, had been receiving orders from a Libyan leader of Islamic State, the head of Morocco’s Central Bureau of Judicial Investigations, Habboub Cherkaoui, told reporters.

The suspects, aged 18 to 40, have been radicalised online, Cherkaoui said, adding that most of them had “occasional jobs”.

The group, which branded itself “the Lions of the Caliphate in the Maghreb Al Aqsa (Morocco)”, was planning remotely controlled bomb attacks, he said.

Explosive devices and chemical substances were found during the operation, in addition to a weapons cache including automatic firearms and handguns, in the south-eastern region of Errachidia near the Algerian borders, Cherkaoui said.

The seized weapons and ammunition had been supplied by the IS leader via smugglers, he said.

The operation “confirms that the African branches of IS tend to internationalise their activities”, Cherkaoui said, adding that the nexus between “terrorist groups and criminal networks is a real threat” to Morocco and Europe.

In recent years, IS branches in Africa have recruited more than 130 Moroccan fighters, Cherkaoui said.

Since its establishment in 2015, the Central Bureau of Judicial Investigations has dismantled dozens of militant cells and arrested more than 1,000 suspected jihadists.

The last jihadist attack in the country was in 2023, when three individuals loyal to IS killed a Moroccan policeman in Casablanca.

(Reporting by Ahmed El Jechtimi; Editing by Alex Richardson)