Europe

Spain holds 4 accused of recruiting female ISIL Takfiris

390833_Spain-Police

A Spanish judge has reportedly remanded in custody four suspects recently detained for their alleged role in recruiting women online to join the ISIL Takfiri terrorist group operating in Iraq and Syria.

According to a Spanish judicial source, speaking on condition of anonymity, Judge Santiago Pedraz at the National Court in Madrid has “ordered unconditional detention for membership in a terrorist organization” for the four adults on Thursday.

The source further said a fifth suspect, a minor, was also being held in a juvenile detention center, awaiting further legal proceedings.

The five suspects were arrested on December 16 in a series of joint Spanish-Moroccan raids against a suspected recruiting cell that reportedly contacted women on the Internet and recruited them to join the ISIL terrorists in Iraq and Syria.

Authorities detained the suspects in Barcelona as well as in Ceuta and Melilla, two Spanish territories near the border with Morocco. Two other people were also taken into custody in Morocco near the border with Ceuta.

Security sources in Spain say up to 100 Takfiris have been sent to join the ISIL militants in Iraq and Syria after being recruited in the European country.

In September, Spanish and Moroccan police arrested nine people who allegedly recruited militants to fight for ISIL.

In a similar move a month earlier, the two countries’ police dismantled a network for recruiting and sending militants to fight alongside ISIL.

The ISIL extremists, who have seized swathes of land in Iraq and neighboring Syria, have been carrying out horrific acts of violence, including public decapitations and crucifixions, against all communities such as Shias, Sunnis, Kurds and Christians, in both Arab states.

Back to top button