Xinhuanet
Source: Xinhua
The Moroccan security services have busted 46 terrorist cells since 2015, including 41 with links to the Islamic State (IS) group, local media reported Friday.
The director of the Central Bureau of Judicial Investigations, Abdelhak Khiame, said the dismantlement of these cells has led to the arrest of 674 suspects, according to le360.ma news site.
There are some 1,664 Moroccans who have joined terror groups abroad, including 950 to 980 who belong to IS, Khiame said.
He added that up to 230 fighters have returned to Morocco from conflicted areas, stressing that the country has adopted strict policy regarding the arrival of the fighters.
Khiame believes that the end of IS group does not mean the end of terrorism, hailing a “very advanced” counterterrorism cooperation with European countries, especially its northern neighbor Spain, while deploring the “absence” of such cooperation with neighboring Algeria despite the alarming situation in Sahel region of northwest Africa.
“Terrorism is an ideology. We would only make an end to terrorism when we end radicalization,” he insisted.
