Arrests in Spain, Morocco for ISIS recruitment

The latest arrests took place in the San Martin de la Vega district of Madrid, and in the Moroccan cities of Fez, Casablanca, Nador, al-Hoceima and Driouech.

Spain and Morocco have arrested 14 people in a joint operation targeting suspected recruiters for the so-called Islamic State (IS) group.

One of those detained had previously been arrested under the country’s anti-terror law.

The arrests were linked to “a network… capturing and sending foreign fighters to join the ranks of the terrorist organisation Daesh (Islamic State) in the Syrian-Iraq region that it controls”, the ministry statement said.

Morocco praised the “excellent” cooperation with Spanish authorities.

The two countries have worked closely together to crack down on Islamist militant networks, making dozens of arrests this year alone.

Interior Minister Jorge Fernandez Diaz said last month that 126 people had left Spain to join the ISIS terror group in recent years.

He said that of the 25 known to have returned, 15 were in prison and 10 were free, and there are arrest warrants outstanding for 15 others whose whereabouts are unknown.

The operation, carried out Tuesday morning, comes as Europe remains on high alert after passengers on a Paris-bound train tackled and disarmed a man with guns and a box cutter on Friday, halting what authorities say could have been a deadly terrorist attack.