Terror attacks in Spain foiled by Moroccan intelligence services

A SPANISH academic has claimed that Moroccan intelligence services have helped Spain avert several major terrorist attacks in recent years that could have an outcome similar to the attacks that rocked France, Belgium, Germany and the UK.

In an article Luis Maria Anson Oliart, of the Royal Spanish Academy, said that on ‘multiple occasions’ Moroccan security services alerted their Spanish peers to imminent attacks. And they have led joint operations with Spanish counterparts to dismantle international terrorist networks.

He particularly commended the creation of Morocco’s Central Bureau for Judicial Investigations (BCIJ).

“Thanks to Moroccan intelligence services and to the actions led by the BCIJ and their cooperation with Spanish security services, our country, which endured the attacks of March 11, 2004, could avert attacks similar to those that took place in France, the UK, Italy and Germany,” he said.

Information provided by Morocco’s intelligence services has been vital in preventing several attacks across Europe. Morocco provided the tip-off that enabled French police to locate the whereabouts of Abdelhamid Abaaoud – the mastermind of Paris attacks.

The intelligence service also alerted German counterparts in September 2016 that Anas Amiri was about to perpetrate a terrorist attack on German soil three months before did.

Spain remains at level four of the anti-terror alert – the second highest of a scale of five and the same ranking as the UK.