Madrid: Authorities in the northeastern Spanish region of Catalonia said 17 people, including five alleged members of an extremist Islamist cell, were arrested Tuesday as part of an ongoing anti-terror operation.
As well as having terror links, the suspects also allegedly committed theft, drug trafficking and other crimes, according to the Mossos d’Esquadra regional police.
More than 100 agents were taking part in the operation, which was still taking place mid-afternoon, a spokeswoman said.
The spokeswoman, who declined to be identified by name in line with the police force’s standard practices, said six venues had been searched in and near Barcelona.
Catalan regional minister of security, Miquel Buch, told reporters that most of the arrests had taken place in a central neighborhood of the Catalan capital, but some had been in the nearby town of Igualada.
The five suspected of being part of an extremist cell were originally from Algeria, Buch told reporters.
“They were determined about carrying out an attack, but they didn’t have the capacity for it,” he said.
Investigating magistrate Manuel Garcia-Castellon of the National Court, which normally handles terror related probes in Spain, ordered the arrests and will be interrogating those who remain in custody later this week, a court spokesman told The Associated Press following customary rules of anonymity.
Also on Tuesday, authorities in southern Spain’s Malaga arrested a 27-year-old Moroccan national who police said they suspect could be linked to the so-called Islamic State. The man had allegedly used several social network profiles to express his violent views and allegiance to the extremist group
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