ISIS Terror Cell Operating In Barcelona & Madrid Dismantled
The Spanish National Police in conjuntion with other law and intelligence bodies have dismantled an ISIS terrorist cell operating in Spain.
Police officers arrested the five suspects in co-ordinated raids in Madrid and Barcelona.
According to the Spanish authorities, the cell was in an advanced stage of planning a terrorist attack.
Police anti-terrorism officers said the group were being monitored and decided to act after learning that one of its member was trying to purchase a Kalashnikov assault rifle.
The raids discovered machetes and ammunition, police said
đ©Detenidos cinco presuntos yihadistas en #Barcelona y #Madrid
El grupo estarĂa liderado por un individuo al que denominaban âSheikhâ -Jeque- y que ya fue detenido en 2016 en TurquĂa cuando pretendĂa unirse a #DAESH #SomosTuPolicĂa pic.twitter.com/U5ll7MfXne
— PolicĂa Nacional (@policia) October 13, 2021
Four of the alleged jihadists were arrested in Barcelona have already appeared before a court and been remanded in prison.
It is expected that the fifth who was arrested in Madrid will appear in court tomorow. He is believed to also been involved in recruiting other mebers and is said to have fought in the Syrian and Iraqui Caliphate in 2016.
Police said the alleged leader of the group is a man known as âSheikhâ who had been arrested in Turkey in 2016. He entered Spain earlier this year and is believed to have started recruiting and indoctrinating others to radical Islam.
The operation was conducted with intelligence agencies including those of Spain, the United States and Algeria.