The Central Bureau of Judicial Investigation (BCIJ), reporting to the General Directorate of Territorial Surveillance (DGST) in Morocco, has successfully dismantled a Daesh-affiliated terrorist cell in the kingdom.
The group was active in the towns of Temara, Skhirat (region of Rabat), Tangiers (north) and Tiflet (center).
The security operations, carried out simultaneously in the four cities in the wee hours of Thursday, resulted in the arrest of five suspects, a statement from the BCIJ said.
One of the suspects arrested in Tiflet had put up a fierce resistance, according to the statement.
In a desperate bid to expose elements of the rapid intervention force to a terrorist attack, he seriously injured one of them in the forearm with a sharp tool, before being arrested afterwards, using warning shots and sound bombs.
Another suspect arrested in the town of Témara tried to blow himself up with a large gas cylinder, offering fierce resistance, which forced the intervention force to open fire with bullets, sound and smoke bombs to obscure the suspect’s vision, thus neutralizing the danger and defeating the threats, the statement said.
The search led to the seizure of a bunch of knives, chemical substances, balaclavas, cell phones and other suspicious items.
According to the statement, the search led to unmasking the head of the cell, who has a criminal record over violent crimes and is considered a dangerous suspect.
He is thought to have planned with accomplices terrorist operations targeting several facilities and sensitive sites, using explosive devices to destabilize the security and stability of the kingdom.
The investigation also revealed that all of the suspects, who have reached advanced stages of planning and preparation of their handiworks, had carried out reconnaissance missions to identify the targets they planned to attack with suicide bombings, using explosive vests.
The security unit said the suspects’ objective was to cause extensive damage and lend weight to their criminal enterprise.
The suspects were taken into police custody at the disposal of the judicial investigation carried out under the supervision of the competent prosecutors.
The operation comes against the backdrop of heightened terrorist threats targeting the kingdom.
This is in view of particularly with the resurgence of terrorist activities in the Sahelo-Saharan region and North Africa, the statement concluded.
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HA/fss/as/APA