Morocco arrests 4 suspected of planning attacks in Fez

Moroccan security forces have arrested four people who were allegedly planning attacks in the country's second-largest city of Fez.

The city, which was the former capital of Morocco, is a popular tourist destination and a considered a spiritual centre, with some referring to it as the 'Mecca of the West'.

The country's interior ministry said in a statement on Wednesday that a military uniform, knives and documents calling for an Islamist insurgency were seized during the operation.

The suspected terror cell is the second to be dismantled in Fez in less than a month, after 11 suspected Islamic State group militants were arrested on October 14.

Morocco has been spared deadly extremist attacks since a 2011 bombing in Marrakesh's famed Jamaa El Fna Square that killed 17 people, mainly European tourists.

But in recent months, authorities have regularly announced the dismantling of IS cells and arrests of suspected militant recruiters.