Morocco Arrests 5 Sympathizers of ISIS

Members of Morocco's Central Bureau of Judicial Investigation (BCIJ) deploy outside a house in the southern city of Errachidia, on September 14, 2021. (AFP)
Members of Morocco's Central Bureau of Judicial Investigation (BCIJ) deploy outside a house in the southern city of Errachidia, on September 14, 2021. (AFP)
TT

Morocco Arrests 5 Sympathizers of ISIS

Members of Morocco's Central Bureau of Judicial Investigation (BCIJ) deploy outside a house in the southern city of Errachidia, on September 14, 2021. (AFP)
Members of Morocco's Central Bureau of Judicial Investigation (BCIJ) deploy outside a house in the southern city of Errachidia, on September 14, 2021. (AFP)

Central Bureau of Judicial Investigations (BCIJ) services have arrested five sympathizers of the terrorist ISIS group for their alleged involvement in planning individual or collective plots to seriously undermine public order.

The arrests, which took place on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, were carried out on the basis of accurate information provided by the Directorate General of Territorial Surveillance (DGST), said a statement released by the BCIJ.

BCIJ special forces have initiated their intervention in separate operations targeting the five suspects, aged between 20 and 45 years, in Douar Habata Benmansour in the province of Kenitra, Sidi Yahya Zaer, Dchira in Inzegane Ait Melloul, Bouaboud in Chichaoua and Casablanca, specified the same source.

According to the investigation's preliminary data, each of these suspects had pledged his "allegiance" to ISIS and prepared terrorist plots against vital services in Morocco, using explosive material, or targeting security institutions as part of "individual terrorism" operations.

The probe also revealed that some of the suspects were receiving training in the manufacture of explosive devices, the statement indicated.

Security services seized a shotgun and ammunition at the place of residence of the suspect arrested in Kenitra, in addition to weapons.

The five individuals were placed in custody for further questioning by the BCIJ to shed more light on all terrorist plots and identify potential connections to terrorist organizations abroad.



WHO Sends Over 1 Mln Polio Vaccines to Gaza to Protect Children 

Displaced Palestinians, who fled their houses due to Israeli strikes, look out from a window as they take shelter, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, July 24, 2024. (Reuters)
Displaced Palestinians, who fled their houses due to Israeli strikes, look out from a window as they take shelter, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, July 24, 2024. (Reuters)
TT

WHO Sends Over 1 Mln Polio Vaccines to Gaza to Protect Children 

Displaced Palestinians, who fled their houses due to Israeli strikes, look out from a window as they take shelter, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, July 24, 2024. (Reuters)
Displaced Palestinians, who fled their houses due to Israeli strikes, look out from a window as they take shelter, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, July 24, 2024. (Reuters)

The World Health Organization is sending more than one million polio vaccines to Gaza to be administered over the coming weeks to prevent children being infected after the virus was detected in sewage samples, its chief said on Friday.

"While no cases of polio have been recorded yet, without immediate action, it is just a matter of time before it reaches the thousands of children who have been left unprotected," Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in an opinion piece in Britain's The Guardian newspaper.

He wrote that children under five were most at risk from the viral disease, and especially infants under two since normal vaccination campaigns have been disrupted by more than nine months of conflict.

Poliomyelitis, which is spread mainly through the fecal-oral route, is a highly infectious virus that can invade the nervous system and cause paralysis. Cases of polio have declined by 99% worldwide since 1988 thanks to mass vaccination campaigns and efforts continue to eradicate it completely.

Israel's military said on Sunday it would start offering the polio vaccine to soldiers serving in the Gaza Strip after remnants of the virus were found in test samples in the enclave.

Besides polio, the UN reported last week a widespread increase in cases of Hepatitis A, dysentery and gastroenteritis as sanitary conditions deteriorate in Gaza, with sewage spilling into the streets near some camps for displaced people.