MADRID (AP) — Spain’s Interior Ministry said two separate arrests have been made in connection with Islamic extremism, bringing to 188 the number of people accused of jihadi links in Spain since 2015.
Police on Monday arrested a 33-year-old Moroccan man in the Canary Islands who had allegedly stated his willingness to carry out attacks of “violent jihadism,” according to a ministry statement on Tuesday.
It said the police found photos of the suspect holding knives and posing with his wife and underage son in combat attire with emblems of the Islamic State group.
The man had been monitored by authorities for more than five years since he was considered “a threat to national security,” the ministry said.
In a separate arrest, an Algerian man was being held in the northern city of Bilbao for allegedly praising extremism, the ministry said. The 44-year-old is suspected of training himself in the ideology of the Islamic State group, which he promoted through social media.
According to the statement, the police had monitored the man in the past for allegedly providing funds and forging identity documents for al-Qaida.