Islamic State (IS) prepare for attacks in Spain

(dailysignal.com)

MADRID -- The Guardia Civil and the National Police report that IS cells (what the heck IS its name??) have been preparing for a number of kidnappings in the country, in order to finance themselves and obtain big headlines -- a common objective throughout the world for this lot. The report comes about as the result of a number of important arrests made in Melilla (one of two Spanish enclaves on the Nort African coast, the other being Ceuta), where several Yihadists (as is the preferred usage in Spanish) were taken into custody. Until recently, these cells had been involved mainly in proselytising, indoctrinating and recruitment among the Islamic community in Morocco and Algeria. They also carried out financing operations, transferring money throughout the Islamic world, included among which are operations for the March 11, 2004 attacks in Madrid and those of London a year later.//The cell that was dismantled in Melilla last week was being watched since May. It was a group of six men under instructions from Syria and Iraq by one Zakaria Said Mohammed, a former professional soldier trained in explosives. The Melilla group had a mountain of information on its computers, which were taken away and thoroughly examined.

Amongst other things, it had planned to kidnap hash smugglers operating in the Straits area and Morocco, and request large sums in ransom.

A list of business people on both sides of the Straits was also found, and thought to be of targets for the same reason. This list specified people in the money exchange business, and included details of addresses and habits of most of them.

While practically all the Jihadists captured in Spain since 9-11 in New York had a crime record, none had yet surfaced as dedicated almost exclusively to financing terrorist operations. There is a cell, or in this case, a clandestine sect within the Jihad movement that includes IS, members of which are allowed to steal in order to finance the Jihad. Most of the men arrested more recently belonged to this sect, according to National Police sources.

Other ways other groups in Europe financed the movement with vehicle stealing, false credit card networks and some drug, gold or diamond dealing. This is the first time, say the same sources, that kidnapping had come up.

It is not surprising that terrorist cells located on the North African coast, but as full members of the Kingdom of Spain: these Autonomous Cities serve as residences for a number of wealthy currency exhange merchants as well as for numerous rich drug smugglers who use these areas to pass hashish grown and processed in Morocco into Europe through its southern border.

The main suspect Zakaria Said Mohammed, a Spanish citizen, used to operate in Mali and later in Syria, from where he fought against the Al Asad regime there. Apparently, Zakaria had his brother, Mohamed, who lives in Melilla, create a cell that was used to recruit and transport at least 26 young men of varying nationalities, but principally Moroccan and Spaniards, from the Sahel desert to Syria last September.

Kidnap fears

The question arises among the Intelligence community: what if IS decides to get heavily into the lucrative kidnapping for ransom business all over Europe? To which there is no official response as yet.

The Spanish Ministry of the Interior added in a communiqué that this cell and another captured earlier this year was also charged with acquiring arms supplies and explosives, 'a grave threat to national security'.