Morocco Aids in Arrest of Two ISIS Returnees in Spain and Austria

The Spanish Ministry of the Interior has, in a press release, announced that two Moroccan terrorists have been arrested for their alleged membership in a terrorist organization after having clandestinely entered Europe through the "Balkans route". The Audiencia Nacional has issued a European Arrest Warrant (EAW) against one of them as part of an investigation led by the General Intelligence Commissariat. His arrest took place in Austria. The second was arrested in Mataro (Barcelona), where he had arrived a few days earlier.

The investigation began at the beginning of the year, following information obtained by the General Intelligence Commissariat, which indicates that two foreign terrorist fighters, linked to Spain and of Moroccan nationality, were planning to enter Europe. One of the detainees had lived in Spain before going to a conflict zone in 2014, while the other had left Morocco the following year. The latter had never lived in Spain, but most of his family has been living there for seven years, the same source said.

According to the Spanish Interior Department, the two suspects joined groups linked to Al-Qaeda in Syria, where they received military training to gain combat experience. After the loss of territories in the Syria-Iraq region by terrorist groups, they both managed to reach Turkey, where they had been living for a few months in the hope of being able to cross clandestinely into Europe, the same source said. This is how they were arrested after entering Europe two months ago, using the Balkans route: Turkey, Bulgaria, Serbia, Hungary and Austria.