Morocco Foils ISIS-Linked Terror Plot, Arrests 12 Suspects

According to a statement from the Directorate General of Territorial Surveillance (DGST), this terrorist project was carried out under the direct coordination of a senior Daesh leader operating from the Sahel region. The operation conducted by the DGST in several cities of the kingdom, namely Laâyoune, Casablanca, Fès, Taounate, Tangier, Azemmour, Guercif, Oulad Teïma and Tamesna, led to the arrest of twelve defendants, aged 18 to 40, who had pledged allegiance to Daesh and were involved in the preparation and coordination of terrorist acts.

Due to the potentially dangerous nature of the threat, snipers were deployed in the intervention areas. Specialized teams in the detection of explosives were also mobilized to carry out this operation supervised by the special forces of the DGST. For security reasons, the inhabitants of the targeted and neighboring areas were evacuated before the launch of the operation, it is specified.

At the end of the searches carried out at the suspects’ homes, explosive devices in the process of being assembled in Tamesna, four gas cylinders containing nails and chemical substances, a pressure cooker filled with the same harmful objects and substances, as well as a large quantity of bladed weapons, various suspicious chemicals and a sum in US dollars, were seized.

Likewise, a remote viewing device, replicas of firearms, digital media, masks, a mural bearing the logo of Daesh, handwritten documents indicating the targeted locations, were found. According to the initial elements of the investigation, the defendants were receiving direct instructions from the senior Daesh official operating in the Sahel, in charge of coordinating the financing and logistics of the organization’s cells located outside the Sahel region.