Morocco dismantles 183 terrorist cells, foils 361 acts of vandalism

Abdelhak Al Khayam, head of Morocco’s Central Bureau of Judicial Investigations (BCIJ), a security apparatus specialised in terrorist crimes inquiry, revealed that since 2002 Morocco has dismantled 183 terrorist cells that sought to carry out terrorist acts in the country, and prevented 361 acts of vandalism.

In an interview with the official news agency, MAP News, Al-Khayam said that the interventions carried out by the BCIJ enabled the arrest of more than 3,129 suspects, 292 of them have a criminal record. He pointed out also that 361 acts of vandalism were “targeting some sensitive sites in the Kingdom of Morocco.”

Referring to the interventions realised by the BCIJ since its establishment in 2015, Al-Khayam stated that the Bureau’s Anti-Terrorism Task Force had dismantled at least 57 cells, 51 of which are connected to Daesh and six are linked to Al-Faye Wa Al-Istihlal terrorist group. The BCIJ efforts enabled the arrest of 902 suspects, including 14 women and 29 minors, according to Al-Khayam.

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Among those who were arrested, 22 were foreigners, eight of them Syrians, three Afghans, two Frenchmen, and two Turks, in addition to an Italian, a Chadian, a Guinea, as well as an Egyptian, a Lebanese, a Russian and a Tunisian. The crimes are linked to ten Belgians, five Frenchmen, and two Spaniards all of them of Moroccan origin, in addition to a French citizen of Algerian descent.

Al-Khayam declared that the BCIJ dismantled during its four years of work 21 terrorist cells in 2015, 19 in 2016, nine in 2017, and eight cells since the start of this year until early October.