Morocco busts 19 terror cells in 2016

Moroccan security services have busted 19 terrorist cells since the beginning of 2016, the Central Bureau of Judicial Investigations (BCIJ) said on Saturday.

Director of the BCIJ Abdelhak Khiame told the press that the dismantlement of these cells have led to the arrest of 273 suspects.

He said Morocco busted in 2015 a total of 21 terror cells and arrested 275 suspects.

The BCIJ has arrested 47 individuals who returned to Morocco from the Islamic State (IS) group controlled areas, including 39 came from IS ranks in the Syrian-Iraqi territories and 8 others from Libya, he said.

The security official underlined that since 2002, 167 cells have been dismantled, 46 of which were closely linked to groups active in IS conflict zones.

During the same period, a total of 341 terrorist attempts have been foiled by Moroccan security services and 2,963 individuals were arrested and brought to justice, he added.

source: Xinhua