RABAT, May 14 (Xinhua) -- Moroccan authorities have arrested four suspected Islamic State (IS) militants who had been plotting attacks in the kingdom, the interior ministry said on Monday in a statement.
The suspects, aged between 20 and 26, had been active in the northwestern cities of Casablanca and Kenitra and northeastern cities of Fez and Driouch, and one of them is a former prisoner charged with terrorism, the statement said.
Preliminary investigation revealed that the suspects were supporting and disseminating the propaganda of IS, the statement pointed out.
Some of the suspects made contact with IS fighters to learn how to make bombs, the same source said.
Electronic devices, military uniforms and books advocating extremist ideas had been seized during the arrest operations, it noted.
Since 2015, Moroccan security services have busted over 50 terrorist cells, more than 40 of which were linked to the IS, according to interior ministry statistics.
