Spain, Morocco arrest 7 suspects linked to ISIL

Spain’s Interior Ministry says Spanish and Moroccan police have arrested seven people allegedly involved in a network linked to the ISIL terrorist group.

The ministry said the arrests took place on Tuesday in the Spanish city of Barcelona and in the country’s North African enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla as well as in the nearby Moroccan town of Castillejos.

Among the detainees are four women, including one minor.

The ministry added that the arrests took place amid a probe on a network recruiting women to join the ISIL in Iraq and Syria.

The joint Spanish-Moroccan operation was the latest of several police raids this year of suspected recruitment networks for the militant group.

In September, Spanish and Moroccan police arrested nine people who allegedly recruited militants to fight for the ISIL. Among the arrested included the group’s leader who coordinated training with groups linked to al-Qaeda in northern Mali along with his brother, a former Spanish soldier and a specialist in arms and explosives.

A month earlier, the two countries’ police dismantled a network for recruiting and sending militants to fight alongside ISIL in Spain’s other Northern African enclave of Ceuta.

ISIL terrorists control some parts of Syria and Iraq. They are engaged in crimes against humanity in the areas under their control. ISIL militants have terrorized and killed people of all communities, including Shias, Sunnis, Kurds, and Christians.

The UN says more than 15,000 foreigners have joined the ISI terrorists fighting the Syrian and Iraqi government troops.