IS-linked terror cell busted in eastern Morocco

Moroccan authorities have dismantled a 10-member terror cell linked to the Islamic State (IS) group in the eastern cities of Oujda and Tendrara.

Members of the terrorist cell, including an Algerian national living illegally in Morocco, had been planning a raid on a large shopping centre in Oujda using knives and "sophisticated communication devices" to raise funds for IS terror plots in the Kingdom, the interior ministry said in a statement.

The group "assaults citizens and dispossesses them of their property", the statement added.

The suspects, who used to hold secret meetings in a "safe house" in Oujda, will be brought to justice after the completion of investigations.

Morocco has been on guard against deadly attacks like those claimed by IS in Tunisia last year that killed 59 foreign tourists.

Earlier this month, the Moroccan Central Bureau of Judicial Investigation, which has been dubbed as "Morocco's FBI", announced dismantling a six-member IS sleeper terror cell in each of the cities of Tetouan, Martil and Casablanca.

According to a press release by the interior ministry at the time, the captured IS members were planning to recruit local fighters who were to be sent to terror training camps before coming back to carry out attacks against soft targets and strategic sites in Morocco.

Rabat says more than 160 "terrorist cells" have been busted since 2002, including nearly 40 over the past three years with ties to extremists in Iraq and Syria.

A study by the US-based Soufan Group said in December that at least 1,200 Moroccans had travelled to fight alongside IS in Iraq and Syria in the past 18 months.