Spanish and Moroccan police arrest 10 in ISIL crackdown
Joint operation targeting recruitment network leads to 10 arrests in cities including Barcelona, Toledo, and Casablanca.
Police have arrested 10 people in Spain and Morocco for allegedly recruiting and grooming fighters for the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group, the Spanish interior ministry has said.
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The statement on Sunday said arrests “in the last few hours” were part of a joint operation between the two countries in the Spanish cities of Toledo, Badalona, Xeraco, and in the coastal city of Casablanca, Morocco.
The suspects were part of a “network of recruitment, indoctrination and sending foreign fighters to fight for Daesh (ISIL) in the regions of Syria and Iraq under its control,” the ministry said in the statement, according to the AFP news agency.
Spain and Morocco joined forces on August 25 in another operation that saw 14 other alleged recruiters arrested.
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Europe has been grappling with a growing number of ISIL cells on its territory and supporters of the group leaving to fight for the ISIL or joining the rebels in Iraq and Syria.
More than 100 people from Spain are suspected of having joined fighters in the two Middle Eastern countries and authorities fear they may return to launch attacks.
In a major crackdown, including those operating online, Spanish police have arrested scores of suspected recruiters in recent years.