The investigating judge in charge of terrorism cases at Salé’s Court of Appeal ordered the detention of 13 members of a terrorist cell, previously seized in Fes, in Salé’s local prison.

The terrorist cell was prosecuted last Thursday by the Attorney General of the King at the Court of Appeal in Rabat, for “preparation for the commitment of acts of terrorism aimed at serious damage of public order by intimidation, terror or violence, possession of fire arms and ammunition.”

On October 14, police elements of the Central Bureau of Judicial Investigations (BCIJ), Morocco’s anti-terror bureau, dismantled a terrorist cell in the city of Fes, who were active in Fes, Meknes, Khouribga, Casablanca, Zaouiat Sheikh, Sidi Bennour, Demnate, and Sidi Harazem.

According to a statement from the Ministry of the Interior, the BCIJ arrested the leader of the terrorist network and one of its partners, suspected of having links with the terrorist organization ISIS.

The terrorists were seized in the possession of guns, hunting guns, explosives material, blades, communication equipment, and a large sum of cash money.

The members of this cell had planned “very dangerous terrorist operations,” using the expertise of one of its members in the manufacture of explosives and bombs, said the Ministry of the Interior.

BCIJ head Abdelhak El Khiam previously said that the bureau is on constant alert to counter terrorism threats facing Morocco.

Since its creation in 2015, the bureau, locally nicknamed Morocco’s FBI, has dismantled over 40 terrorist cells.