Advertisement

Man arrested in Wuppertal as part of Spanish Isis raids

AFP
AFP - [email protected]
Man arrested in Wuppertal as part of Spanish Isis raids
Police detain the suspect in Wuppertal. Photo: DPA

Police have arrested five suspected members of an Isis cell in Spain, Belgium and Germany that spread propaganda for the group online, the Spanish interior ministry said Wednesday.

Advertisement

The suspects, a Moroccan and four Spaniards, are accused of inciting attacks and acting as go-betweens for Isis recruitment in Europe.

Two suspects were arrested in Barcelona in northeastern Spain, one in Spain's North African territory of Melilla, one in Brussels and another in Wuppertal, in Germany, the ministry said in a statement.

The interior ministry of Germany's North Rhine-Westphalia region confirmed the detention of a 20-year-old Spaniard in Wuppertal, which it said was carried out early Wednesday morning "on the basis of an international arrest warrant."

The group used social media, mainly a Facebook page called "Islam in Spanish" - run by the suspects arrested in Belgium and Germany - to promote Islamist extremism, the statement said.

"Under the guise of disseminating religious context on this web page, radical messages were exchanged which praised jihadists, 'martyr' fighters, actions carried out by Daesh and the importance of individual jihad," it said using an Arabic acronym for Isis.

The Facebook page was followed by 32,500 people and was drawing 500 new followers per week, the ministry said.

"The cell which was dismantled represented a serious, concrete and continued threat to the security of Western societies," the statement said.

Spanish police have since 2015 taken part in the arrests of 143 suspected jihadists -- 113 in Spain and 30 in operations carried out in other countries, the ministry said.

More

Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.

Please log in to leave a comment.

See Also