Spain holds boxing coach suspected of recruiting jihadists
Instructor alleged to be head of cell that sent foreign fighters to Turkey in order to receive attack instructions from IS
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Spanish officials said police have arrested a Moroccan boxing coach suspected of heading a cell that spread propaganda and recruited militants for the Islamic State armed group.
The Interior Ministry said the man arrested Monday in the northern city of San Sebastian had ties with another suspect arrested in Strasbourg, France, on November 20. He also had shared an apartment in San Sebastian with a man later arrested in Morocco, who was suspected of receiving instructions from IS members in Turkey for carrying out attacks in Europe.
The two men arrested in November in Morocco and France had followed “concrete and precise instructions from Daesh,” the ministry said, using an Arabic acronym for Islamic State.
The statement also said the Moroccan man arrested Monday had been active since 2010 and used his job as boxing coach to recruit marginalized youths for jihad activities.
According to Spanish authorities, 181 alleged jihadists have been detained since 2015, when Spain increased its terror alert to category four on a five-point scale.
The country has been mentioned on extremist websites as a possible attack target for historical reasons, given Muslims ruled in Spain for close to eight centuries until 1492.
But it has been spared any incident since March 2004, when bombs exploded on commuter trains in Madrid, leaving 191 dead in attacks claimed by al-Qaeda inspired militants.
The Times of Israel Community.