Casablanca - Lahsan Maqnaa

Morocco announced on Friday that it had dismantled in the central Beni Mellal city a terrorist cell that was affiliated with the ISIS group.

An interior ministry statement said that the six-member cell was preparing to carry out terrorist attacks in the country.

The security forces carried out a preemptive raid to arrest the cell. The suspects range between 24 and 37 years of age.

The security forces confiscated a number of electronic devices, pamphlets that glorify ISIS ideology and knives during their operation.

Preliminary investigations revealed that the suspects had recruited youths in order to indoctrinate them with ISIS thought and incite them to carry out attacks against those who not adhere to their ideology.

The ministry said that the operation demonstrates that terrorist threats still persist in Morocco, vowing that the suspects will be brought to justice.

They will be tried according to the concerned judiciary, rules and procedures, it stressed.

Agence-France Presse noted a drop in the dismantling of terror cells in the Kingdom. It had uncovered 21 cells in 2015, 19 in 2016 and nine in 2017, revealed official figures.

Since 2002, Morocco has discovered and dismantled 186 terrorist cells and arrested 3,000 suspects, said an official source from the interior ministry.

Several of these cells were linked to troubled countries, such as Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq and Syria, as well as the African Sahel.

Morocco was the victim of terrorist attacks in 1994, 2003, 2007 and 2011. The Casablanca bombings in 2003 left some 33 people dead and the 2011 Marrakesh attack left 17 dead.

These assaults prompted Morocco to adopt a strategy, based on preemptive measures, to confront these dangers.