Morocco arrests four over alleged 'IS recruitment'

Morocco arrests four over alleged 'IS recruitment'
Suspected Moroccan recruiters for the Islamic State group have been arrested in four of the kingdom's southern cities.
1 min read
24 September, 2017
Police seize 'extremist' material in one of the suspects' homes in Marrakesh [AFP]

Police in Morocco have arrested four people alleged to have helped rectruit Islamic State group militants, local media reported on Saturday.

All four suspects were apprehended in the country's southern cities of Marrakesh, Sidi Bennour and Dakhla, al-Ahdath al-Maghribia reported.

They are thought to have been propogating the IS group's extremist ideology and recruiting potential fighters to travel to Iraq and Syria.

In one of the suspect's homes in Marrakesh, books and videos relating to the IS group were seized.

Since 2015, security services in Morocco have busted around 50 militant cells, according to authorities. Over 40 of these cells were linked the the IS group.

In June, police in the Atlantic coastal town of Essouiera arrested four people suspected of planning attacks on Morocco's major tourist attractions.

The kingdom has been spared deadly militant attacks since a 2011 bombing in the central city of Marrakesh killed 17 people, mainly European tourists.