Domestic intelligence foils terror plot in Morocco

Moroccan authorities have foiled a terror plot in the north African nation's northeastern town of Salwane which envisaged terror acts, including assassination of officials, the interior ministry said.

The Central Bureau of Judicial Investigation (BCIJ), an offshoot of Morocco's domestic intelligence agency (DGST), foiled the terror plot after investigations revealed that a jihadi cell was plotting "targeted" terror attacks in the country, including the assassination of officials, the interior ministry said in a statement on Monday.

The investigations showed that the members of the cell held secret meetings to plan their terror acts as well as conduct paramilitary exercises in a forest near Salwane, Morocco's MAP news agency reported.

Meanwhile, the DSGT had also provided information to Dutch authorities to arrest a Moroccan living in the Netherlands who had close links with the terror cell, the statement said

The Moroccan national was procuring firearms and explosives which were to be used against Dutch security forces, the statement added.