Morocco: Police arrest 27 as alleged Al-Qaeda cell uncovered

Source: ADNKRONOS
Moroccan authorities say they have arrested 27 people, including a member of Al-Qaeda's branch in North Africa for planning terrorist attacks in the kingdom.

Rabat, 5 Jan. (AKI) - Moroccan authorities say they have arrested 27 people, including a member of Al-Qaeda's branch in North Africa for planning terrorist attacks in the kingdom.

The network was led by "a Moroccan national who is a member of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and who wanted to create a rear base in the country for terror attacks," an Interior Ministry statement said late Tuesday, cited by Moroccan news agency MAP.

The statement did not name those arrested or specify when their arrests took place.

But it said the suspects "planned to commit terrorist acts with explosives-laden belts and car bombings."

AQIM, the acronym by which the group is know, has bases spread across Algeria, Mauritania and Mali, according to analysts.

Local daily Hespress said the arrests followed police raids in Amghala, an oasis town in Western Sahara (photo), a disputed territory in North Africa, bordered by Morocco to the north, and Algeria to the northeast .

Police uncovered three hideouts in the area containing arms caches and explosives belts as well as several car bombs, according to Hespress.

The alleged cell was planning to target 'sensitive' sites in Morocco, the paper reported.

It had recruited a number of local youths and was planning to send them to Al-Qaeda training camps in Algeria and Mali.

The members of the alleged cell were also planning bank robberies to finance their terrorist activities, said Hespress.