Couple linked to Islamic State arrested in Algeciras

A couple allegedly linked to Islamic State were arrested in Algeciras as they tried to travel to Morocco, Spain’s Ministry of the Interior said in a statement today.

The man, of Moroccan nationality, and his Spanish partner live in Granada and were travelling with their juvenile son at the time of their arrest.

The arrests form part of a wider operation into people linked to the terrorist group, the ministry said.

Guardia Civil investigators have established the identities of a number of individuals who carried out suicide attacks in Syria and whose network maintained contact with others linked to the group and, in some cases, urged them to join the terrorist cause in their home country.

“Specialists from the Guardia Civil Information Service were able to establish that one of the members of the group, the brother of the man arrested, died recently in a suicide attack, which prompted the two people arrested to travel unexpectedly toward Morocco,” the ministry’s statement said.

Officers are searching the couple’s home and seizing any evidence related to Islamic State.

Photo by David Parody