A Belgian of Moroccan origin suspected of being involved in the preparation of “imminent terrorist projects” in Morocco was arrested in Belgium with the cooperation of the Moroccan intelligence services (DGST), the Moroccan anti-terrorist police announced on Friday evening. “The information made available by the General Directorate for National Territorial Surveillance (DGST) to the Belgian security and judicial authorities allowed the arrest of the respondent, who was active in the name of Abdellah Al-Beljiki”said a press release from the Central Bureau of Judicial Investigations (BCIJ).

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The suspect was “detained by Belgian justice for the purposes of the investigation carried out in the context of the cases of terrorism and violent extremism”, adds the BCIJ. This case is linked to the arrest on Wednesday in southern Morocco of a “extremist” Moroccan affiliated with the jihadist organization Islamic State (IS), suspected of plotting bomb attacks against foreigners, senior Moroccan security and government officials as well as military sites and prison establishments.

The 27-year-old suspected ISIS member was tasked with recruiting the operatives for this “terrorist plan with cross-border ramifications” on Moroccan territory. The individual decree in Belgium transferred the money in euros to the “suspiciously arrested in Morocco, at the beginning of March, as a first step in the context of progressive financing operations for the acquisition of compounds and chemical products used in the preparation and manufacture of explosives”details the press release from the BCIJ.

Furthermore, the Belgian suspect is involved in “the incitement to the creation of a local terrorist organization to carry out subversive operations in Morocco”. If the Cherifian kingdom has been spared in recent years by violence linked to jihadist groups, its security services regularly report anti-terrorist crackdowns and foiled plans for attacks. Since 2002, the Moroccan police have dismantled over 2,000 terrorist cells and arrested over 3,500 people in connection with “terrorism”according to the authorities.