The Central Bureau of Judicial Investigations was able, based on accurate intelligence provided by the Directorate General for the Surveillance of National Territory, on the morning of Monday, July 6, to thwart highly dangerous terrorist plans that were in advanced stages of preparation and planning, which aimed to seriously disrupt public order and threaten the safety of individuals and property. Extremists coordinated logistically and operationally with the African coast branch of the terrorist organization “ISIS” were engaged in executing these plans.
Elements of the special forces of the Directorate General for the Surveillance of National Territory carried out intervention operations and arrests simultaneously in several Moroccan cities, namely Agadir, Taroudant, Casablanca, Hajeb, Tetouan, Fkih Ben Salah, and Safi, following surveillance and investigation operations initiated by field officers who were responsible for gathering and analyzing intelligence data related to this terrorist cell.
These simultaneous field interventions resulted in the arrest of ten extremist individuals suspected of being linked to the execution of this terrorist project, which has extensions in several Moroccan cities, including a former detainee under the anti-terrorism law and a minor.
Immediately upon completing the intervention and arrest operations, the chiefs and officers of the Central Bureau of Judicial Investigations began search operations in the homes of the arrested individuals, after exhausting all legal formalities and procedural guarantees, utilizing trained dog teams from the national police. This resulted in the seizure of white weapons and equipment used in the implementation of these terrorist plans.
The search operations also enabled the seizure of military uniforms and manuscripts with extremist content, including detailed explanations on how to assemble explosive devices, in addition to seizing digital media and visual content, among which were two recordings containing the text of the allegiance announcement to the “ISIS” organization and explicit threats to carry out sabotage activities within Morocco.
Following the field operations, a search was conducted at a warehouse in the city of Inzegan, which resulted in finding an SUV with a modified fuel tank inside a secret workshop, allowing it to operate on propane gas, intended to be used in carrying out a terrorist act through a suicide bombing or ramming against sensitive targets and facilities.
A security and safety protocol was immediately activated to evacuate all residents living near this warehouse, before deploying a specialized team for dealing with explosives from the Directorate General of National Security, who conducted a thorough inspection of this vehicle using remote-controlled robots and precise sensors to verify its level of danger. These arrangements were followed by granting permission to the crime scene team and judicial police officers to subject the suspicious vehicle and the warehouse to the necessary technical examination operations required by the investigation.
In the same warehouse, a number of propane gas canisters and pressure cookers were seized, some filled with nails and others connected to electrical wires, in addition to seizing a welding machine, electrical cutters, small lamps, and a quantity of solid and liquid chemicals, which will be subjected to technical and scientific expertise to determine their composition and purpose for possession.
Intelligence information supported by field investigations and technical expertise indicates that members of this terrorist cell have pledged allegiance to the purported caliph of the “ISIS” terrorist organization and that they have recently received direct directives and communications from some leaders of the branch of this organization in the Sahel and Sahara region, instructing them to remain in Morocco to execute its terrorist and destructive agenda, postponing plans to join the organization’s strongholds outside Morocco to a later time.
Additionally, research and investigations conducted up to this stage of the investigation have shown that the emir of this terrorist cell distributed roles among its members by the direction and instruction of “ISIS”; this distribution included assigning some members to choose the planned targets to be hit and tasking another group with reconnaissance, surveillance, and observation operations, while another team’s responsibility was to procure the materials and equipment necessary for use in executing their destructive projects.
As part of the judicial investigation conducted by the Central Bureau of Judicial Investigations under the supervision of the public prosecutor responsible for terrorism cases, the detained adults have been kept in police custody, while the minor has been placed under supervision, to deepen the investigation with them and uncover their connections to the African branch of “ISIS” in the Sahel and Sahara region, as well as to identify the potential extensions of this terrorist cell at both national and international levels.
