Morocco Arrests 6 for Pledging Allegiance to ’ISIL’ on Video

Local Editor

Morocco arrested six suspects after an online video showed masked men pledging allegiance to the head of the so-called "Daesh" ["ISIL"] extremist group, officials and media said on Sunday.

Media reports said the video that went online recently last week was filmed in Morocco and showed three masked men holding the "Daesh" flag and introducing themselves as soldiers of the extremist group's so-called "state".

The video purported to announce the creation of so-called "Jund al-Khilafa" [Soldiers of the "Caliphate"] in the Maghreb.

Morocco's interior ministry said three people were arrested in connection with the video on Saturday and three more on Sunday.

A statement did not identify the suspects but said the head of the group and two of his accomplices "were jailed in 2008... for their involvement in terrorist plots" and links with an al-Qaida extremist group.

Authorities say that more than 2,000 Moroccan extremists, including some with dual nationality, are now fighting in Syria and Iraq.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team