Rabat-Morocco’s security services were able on Thursday to dismantle a terror cell linked to ISIS in Libya. The network includes six members who were active in the cities of Agadir, Amezmez, Chichaoua, Laqliaa and Aint Melloul in the South.

A statement carried by the Interior Ministry said this cell, one of whose members lived in Libya, had secretly planned to join the ISIS branch in the country, through the borders with the Sahelo-Saharan region.

According to the same source, monitoring operations also revealed that a member of the terrorist network was preparing a homemade explosive device to carry out terrorist operations in Morocco and leave a huge number of casualties, the same way ISIS does.

The ministry statement also said that monitoring the situation in Libya showed that the country has become a base for ISIS fighters in accordance with the instructions of the organization’s leadership, to establish an expanding control in the Maghreb region through its Libyan branch.

The suspects will be brought before justice after the completion of investigations conducted under the competent public prosecutor’s office.

Moroccan authorities had previously arrested suspects from several cities planning to join the ISIS branch in Libya. Since 2002, Morocco has been able to dismantle more than 155 terrorist cells.