Morocco dismantles new IS recruitment cell

Morocco said Thursday that it has dismantled a new cell suspected of recruiting and sending Moroccan fighters to join the ranks of the Islamic State (IS).

Operating in several Moroccan cities, the busted network consists of eight people who were involved in sending dozens of Moroccan fighters to the region through their agents in Turkey via the Turkish-Syrian borders, the Moroccan Interior Ministry said in a statement.

The arrested individuals showed loyalty to the IS expansionist strategy which aims at attracting Moroccan fighters who will later return to the kingdom to perpetrate targeted terrorist attacks undermining the country's security and stability, according to the statement.

Earlier in July, Moroccan authorities arrested nine people for spreading IS extremist ideology on the Internet and defending its criminal acts inside and outside Syria and Iraq.

On Wednesday, the Interior Ministry said the nine arrested planned to carry out "lone wolf" suicide attacks in the country.

Since the rise of the extremist organization in 2014, Morocco has announced the dismantlement of dozens IS-linked groups. Enditem