News / North Africa

Daesh-linked elements planned chemical attack in Morocco: Official

Sunday, 21 February 2016 10:01 AM [ Last Update: Wednesday, 24 February 2016 8:12 AM ]

Members of the Moroccan special forces stand guard inside the Moroccan Central Bureau of Judicial Investigation building in the capital, Rabat, on September 14, 2015. ©AFP

Authorities in Morocco say they have detained members of a “terrorist cell” affiliated to the Daesh Takfiri group that planned to carry out chemical attacks in the country.

Morocco’s Central Bureau of Judicial Investigations (BCIJ) Director Abdelhak Khiame, said Sunday that six jars of sulfur-containing chemical fertilizer, which releases a fatally toxic gas when heated, were found during a raid on terrorist hideouts in several towns days earlier.

The detainees “were well equipped to commit a major attack,” Khiame said.

He added, “They wanted to sow psychosis among the population,” noting that there may have been, at the lowest estimate, “dozens” of victims.

“The raid reveals a radical change in Daesh tactics. The weapons seized are from Libya, which confirms that…the terrorist organization positions itself increasingly in the Maghreb,” Khiame stated.

The judicial official further said the detainees did not receive training at Daesh camps in Iraq and Syria, but rather “were trained on site in coordination with Daesh, which provided them with the necessary arms.”

Additionally, a source close to the investigation revealed that the youngest of the suspected Daesh members, a 16-year-old boy, was trained for detonating a car bomb. He was supposed to carry out an attack on the parliament.

Moroccan security officials say they have dismantled 152 “terrorist cells” since 2002, out of which 31 were linked to Takfiri terrorist outfits in Iraq and neighboring Syria.

According to official data, at least 1,300 Moroccans have joined the Daesh so far. A total 246 of them died in Syria and 40 others in Iraq, but 156 militants returned to Morocco.

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