Morocco: Suspected Female Jihadists Arrested

The Interior Ministry statement said the 10 suspected militants of Islamic State (ISIS) terrorist group were planning to attacks in the northern part of Morocco.

The Moroccan authorities have scored a major success in the fight against terrorism by dismantling  a suspected Islamic State  (ISIS)  militant cell and arresting 10 women believed to be planning attacks  in the northern part of the country, Al Arabiya Africa cited a statement from the  Interior Ministry as saying on Monday.

The statement specified that Morocco’s Central Bureau of Judicial Investigation (BCIJ), the judicial arm of the domestic intelligence service, seized chemicals and bomb-making materials in one of the suspects’ houses. It further said the cell was operating in several regions including the cities of Kenitra and Tangier. The cell members reportedly reflected an ISIS effort to integrate female militants for attacks in the kingdom and they were inspired by the brother of one of them who was involved in bombings in Iraq earlier this year.

Reports say  the dismantling of the ISIS militant cell  is the latest in a series of militant cells Morocco says it has broken up, but it is the first time authorities have arrested a group of female suspects.
Government   is said to believe that 1,500 Moroccan nationals are fighting with militant factions in Syria and Iraq. About 220 have returned home and been jailed, while 286 have been killed in battle. The country is an ally in the Western campaign against Islamist militancy. Morocco, reports say,  has suffered attacks itself in the past, most recently in 2011 in Marrakesh when an explosion tore through a cafe and killed 15 people, mostly foreigners.