Seven suspected Islamic militants have been arrested in raids across Spain. Judicial sources said Monday's operations had foiled a planned bomb attack on the High Court. The interior ministry said further arrests could be made imminently, as police moved against what was described as an active Islamic militant group. It is seven months since Islamic militants launched bomb attacks on trains as they arrived in Madrid, killing 191 people. Around 20 suspects are being held in custody because of alleged links to the attacks.
A further seven were killed when their explosives blew up as police approached their hide-out in Madrid. Six of those arrested on Monday have been named as Smail Latrech, Ali Omar (or "Jelloul"), Djamel Merabet, Mourat Yala (or "Abu Anas"), Ahmed Mohamed and Magid Mchmacha.
The other was identified only by the name Medhi, the Spanish news agency Efe reported. Four of the suspects were held in Almeria, one in Valencia, one in Madrid and one in Malaga, it said. They were said to include at least four Algerians and one Moroccan. "The ring is composed of Muslims that are residents in Spain," an interior ministry statement said. It said the suspects had been in contact with other individuals in Europe, the United States and Australia. | Been listening to their phone calls, excellent! |
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