According to investigators, the cell members were linked to a senior IS leader, responsible for an "external operations committee" tasked with internationalizing terrorist activities outside the Sahel-Saharan region.

Moroccan police announced on Wednesday that they had foiled an "extremely serious terrorist plot" and arrested 12 suspects in several cities, all Moroccans , suspected of having links with the Islamic State (IS) group in the Sahel .

"This project was directly sponsored and encouraged by a senior official of the terrorist organization Daesh (an Arabic acronym for IS, Editor's note) operating in the African Sahel region ," said the National Security Directorates (DGSN) and Territorial Surveillance Directorates (DGST). "This security operation was carried out simultaneously in several cities in the country ," including Casablanca (center), Fez, Tangier (north) and Tamesna, in the suburbs of Rabat, according to a statement from the two directorates.

In Tamesna, authorities found "a suspicious package, consisting of a pressure cooker containing nails and chemicals used in the manufacture of explosives ," according to the same source. The investigation led to the arrest of "12 radicalized individuals, aged 18 to 40, who had pledged allegiance to Daesh and were involved in the preparation and coordination of large-scale terrorist attacks ," the statement added.

“Foreign interests in Morocco” targeted

According to investigators, the members of the cell were linked to a senior IS leader in the Sahel region, who was responsible for an “external operations committee” tasked with internationalizing terrorist activities outside the Sahel-Saharan region . According to the same source, this leader “supervised financing and logistical support operations, and provided members of this cell with digital content detailing the modus operandi to be adopted for these terrorist operations .” The cell was to target “members of the public forces, sensitive economic and security installations, and foreign interests in Morocco . ”

On January 30, the head of the Central Bureau of Judicial Investigations Habboub Cherkaoui had declared, while announcing the arrest of four people linked to ISIS in the Sahel suspected of a "terrorist plot" , that jihadist groups in Africa represented a "real threat to the Kingdom" . According to Habboub Cherkaoui, 130 Moroccan nationals have taken part in jihadist operations in Somalia and the Sahel since the end of 2022 and many of them "are seeking to extend the activities of their groups to Morocco" . While Morocco has been spared in recent years from violence linked to jihadist groups, its security services regularly report anti-jihadist raids and foiled attack plans.