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A senior Moroccan police official warned on Friday that terrorism and organized crime are turning the Sahel region into a “time bomb”, a day after Rabat announced the dismantling of a cell suspected of being linked to ISIS .
“A dangerous cell was ready to act at any moment,” Abdelhak Khayyam, director of the Central Office of Judicial Investigation in Morocco, said in an interview.
The bureau announced that five “extremists” (whose ages ranged from 29 to 43 years) were arrested on Thursday in simultaneous operations in the cities of Rabat and Tangier.
The bureau said that its members found explosive belts, three kilograms of ammonium nitrate and electronic equipment in raids on the homes and businesses of the suspects.
The seized weapons also included pressure cookers with nails, and authorities revealed that the cell contained five explosive belts that were intended to be used in terrorist operations.
Khayyam explained: “The ISIS-linked cell was planning to target” public figures, military officials and security services headquarters “in Morocco.
On August 4, ammonium nitrate, which is used as a fertilizer and in the manufacture of explosives, killed dozens of people in a terrible explosion that shook Beirut.
Two of the suspects resisted “fiercely” the security forces and a policeman was seriously injured by a knife.
Khayyam said: “The latest operation is the largest since the 2003 terrorist attacks on Casablanca, which left 33 dead.”
Khayyam warned that “ISIS” has developed in the Sahel and Sahara region with the conflict in Libya and in countries, such as Mali, that do not control their security.
The Sahel region covers western and northern Africa.
“Terrorist cells and terrorism are growing in the region, as well as organized crime, drug, arms and human trafficking networks,” Khayyam said. “All this … makes the Sahel region, in my opinion, a time bomb,” he added.
