Stop in Guadalajara a “foreign terrorist combatant” of ISIS claimed by Morocco | Spain

The Civil Guard has arrested in Guadalajara a man on whom an international arrest warrant issued by Morocco hangs for being part of the ranks of the Islamic State terrorist organization (ISIS) in the Syrian-Israeli conflict zone, as reported on Friday the police force in a statement. Until last May 10, 67 people have been arrested in Spain for jihadist terrorism, according to the accounting of the Interior Ministry. The figure It already exceeds 61 arrests of 2023. In all 2024 there were 89.

The information service agents, in charge of the anti -terrorism struggle, located this goal thanks to the collaboration with the General Directorate of Surveillance of the Territory (DGST). Its detection in Spanish territory made it possible to reactivate the judicial case that Moroccan justice had opened.

The « foreign terrorist combatants », as the Civil Guard has defined to the arrested One of the current challenges of terrorismas stated in the last national strategy against terrorism, published in 2024. « They represent a growing risk for national security and international stability, given the possible return to their countries of origin or residence, » he says in the text. It is a problem shared throughout the EU, which takes into account the dangers associated with the training and indoctrination that they would have received, to the possibility that they can act in Spain, as well as their potential as captors of new terrorists or their possible links with terrorist organizations.

The Civil Guard has highlighted the importance of the effort carried out in recent years countries from which these combatants moved to conflict zones to respond to their judicial authorities for the crimes of terrorism of those who are responsible.

Since the beginning of the conflict in Syria in 2011, a significant number of individuals of Spanish origin or residents in Spain have joined terrorist groups such as ISIS and Al Qaeda. In addition to their knowledge, they can adopt a possible leadership position, which makes them « backbone of radical awareness. »

Spain monitors this phenomenon with a unique common list of foreign combatants, for which the intelligence center against terrorism and organized crime (CITCO) is responsible, updating police and judicial control measures and sharing information through the usual channels.

The Latest Citco statisticsof 2024, they collect that 272 jihadists left Spain since 2015 (a relatively low figure compared to countries such as France, with almost 2,000; Germany, more than a thousand, or Belgium, above 500). Of these, at least 65 have returned to Europe, more than a hundred has died and the rest continues in conflict areas, such as Syria or Iraq.