Moroccan soccer fans cheer Islamic State

A video has emerged on the Internet showing Moroccan soccer fans cheering for the Islamic State and calling for jihad.

In the clip, a subtitled version of which was published by the Middle East Media Research Institute this week, a crowd of fans for the Raja Club Athletic from Casablanca can been seen chanting “ISIS! ISIS!” and “Let’s go on Jihad.”

The Islamic State, which has conquered large swaths of Iraq and Syria while executing thousands, is also known by the acronyms ISIL and IS.

Moroccan authorities have been battling a core of IS supporters within its borders and last month succeeded in dismantling two recruitment networks for the jihadist group. One was a cross-border cell in the Spanish enclave of Melilla and the neighboring Moroccan city of Nador that recruited jihadis to fight for IS.

Spain’s Interior Ministry said the leader of the cell coordinated with his brother, an ex-Spanish soldier currently fighting with the Islamic Group. A specialist in arms and explosives, the former soldier had originally joined the al-Qaeda splinter group, the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa, or MUJAO, in 2012, which was fighting in the African state of Mali.

Earlier in September authorities nabbed another cell that was led by an elementary school teacher and based in the central city of Fez. Seven people were arrested.

Police have already dismantled several other recruitment networks over the past few months, most based in Fez.

The ministry says there are 1,212 Moroccans fighting with extremist groups in Iraq and Syria, mostly for the IS group. Authorities have expressed fear that Moroccans fighting abroad may return home to carry out terrorist attacks.

Associated Press contributed to this report.