MADRID, July 14 (Xinhua) -- The Catalan regional police force on Tuesday confirmed the arrest of two men suspected of forming part of a jihadist terrorist cell following a police operation in Barcelona, a city on the coast of northeastern Spain.
The two men, identified as Algerians aged 41 and 43 years old, were detained in a series of raids, which began at around 06:00 a.m. local time in the Barceloneta district in the city's old town.
The detainees face charges of active collaboration with a jihadist organization, recruiting and indoctrinating for this organization and preparing to carry out acts of terrorism. In a statement, police said the pair were willing to carry out an unspecified terror attack in the city using explosives
Police also searched two residences in the area. The raid was the second part of an operation named "Alexandria." In January nine suspected terrorists were arrested in Barcelona and the nearby town of Igualada, with four of them remaining in prison.
This was also the second anti-terrorism operation in Catalonia in July, after three suspected jihadists were arrested in the city of Badalona, just to the north of Barcelona, on July 5. Enditem
