Morocco busts terrorist cell near Rabat

The Moroccan bureau for judicial investigation, an offshoot of domestic intelligence agency, arrested six members of a terrorist cell in Sale, near Rabat.

The arrested individuals, aged between 22 and 28, used to attend the same mosque together and held meetings to plot for terrorist attacks.

The group’s leader was the youngest member and is currently unemployed and is living with his parents.

The six individuals were in an advanced stage in their preparation for attacks, 2M news website said.

Morocco’s counterterrorism efforts mitigated the risk of terrorism, but the country continues to face threats, largely from numerous small, independent violent extremist cells.

Since 2011, there has been no attacks in Morocco until December 2018 when four lone wolves killed last December a Norwegian and Danish tourists near the village of Imlil.